Late One Night
by GoldenHelikaon
Summary: AU. Slash. M-Preg. Harry, Ron and Hermione are under Remus’ care for the summer after their 5th Year and one night, Harry hears an unexpected guest arrive, one that ends up in Remus’ bed. And just what has Hermione been hiding from her friends?
1. A Late Night Visitor

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I don't own very much. I own Maria Lupin- (Snape).

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Summary: **AU. Slash. M-Preg.** Harry, Ron and Hermione are under Remus' care for the summer after their 5th Year and one night, Harry hears an unexpected guest arrive, one that ends up in Remus' bed. And just what has Hermione been hiding from her friends?

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Warnings: This story contains **M-preg, Slash** and it is an **Alternate Universe **fic. If you don't like any of these things then hit the back button now and spare me your illiterate flames. _Thank you._ And yes, Hermione is _not_ a Muggleborn witch and I will explain why she is with the Grangers and has that name. **OOCness from Snape too.**

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Pairing: Severus/Remus.

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I am uploading this story again as ff.net deleted my account for NO REASON!

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Chapter 1:_ A Late Night Visitor_

It was the end of July now and Harry, Ron and Hermione had spent the last month in the house of Remus J Lupin, under Dumbledore's orders. Apparently, 12 Grimmauld Place wasn't safe anymore, especially for Harry.

While being in the company of their ex-Professor, the trio had found a couple of interesting things out about Remus. One being, he had a daughter but there was no real mother in the picture.

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"I carried her." Replied Remus; he smirked at the looks of shock on the faces of the teenagers. "Both male and female werewolves can conceive a child…so I went through twenty three hours of labour for that kid."

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"…So, you're gay?" Questioned Ron curiously.

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Remus shook his head, "No, werewolves also don't have a sexual preference."

But none of them had ever asked who the little four year old's other father was and Remus had never said.

The three teenagers had spent the last few weeks just hanging out around the house and exploring the countryside and the town near where the house was. They had realised the house was a bit isolated because of Remus' werewolf transformation, and the werewolf genes had been carried down to Remus' daughter, Maria.

………

Harry lay awake late one night, he had seen a photo of Sirius, Remus and James in one of Remus' photo albums and now he was being reminded of his godfather and the fact that he had never really known his father. He was also curious as to why Hermione knew more about Remus than she was letting on. He could hear Remus still moving around and he briefly thought about getting up to ask him about Sirius and James but then he heard a knock on the front door.

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It's a bit late for visitors isn't it? Thought Harry questioningly.

Harry listened and heard Remus open the door, it was obvious he had been expecting this person as he heard Remus talk.

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"You took your time."

Harry was about to turn over and try and go back to sleep until he heard the voice of the other person, it was one he did not expect to hear in the house of a Marauder, especially after he saw that pensive of Snape's.

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"Surely you didn't expect me to come while Potter and his friends were awake."

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Snape? What the hell is Snape doing here? And why was Remus expecting him? Wondered Harry, he glanced over at the other bed in the room to see if Ron was awake, but he wasn't. He strained to listen to more of the conversation as he could hear Snape talking again.

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"…How have you been?"

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"I've been better, my best friend is dead, I haven't seen you for two months and now Dumbledore's gone and dumped Harry and Ron on me."

Harry sighed, _I should've known, he's only letting us stay because Dumbledore told him to. He doesn't really want us here does he? …Hang on, he just said me and Ron, what about Hermione?_

………

Remus put his arms around Severus in a hug and he could feel it being returned, "Where have you been?"

Severus pulled away slightly and gazed into Remus' brown eyes, "I've been doing a few things for Dumbledore…" He let his dark eyes scan Remus' body. "You haven't been eating have you?"

Remus frowned, "I have…"

Severus raised an eyebrow and rested his hands on Remus' slim waist, "You really shouldn't do this to yourself, think of the girls."

………

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Girls? As in plural? Thought Harry curiously. _We know about Maria…but where's another one…or two? Maybe I should ask…no, then he'll know I was eavesdropping._

………

"I know…" Remus rested his head against Severus' chest. "Food just makes me sick at the moment…"

Severus kissed the werewolf on the top of the head and he spoke quietly, "Please Remus, I can't risk losing you."

Remus squeezed his eyes shut, then he opened them again and gazed back into Severus' black eyes, "Will you stay?" He could see Severus was going to decline so he gave his best puppy eyes. "Please?"

Severus sighed and gave in, "All right, but I'll be leaving early."

Remus gave a small smile and nodded, "Thank you."

Remus and Severus had been together since their seventh year at Hogwarts, but they had been on and off for several years even after their oldest daughter was born. But Remus was still head over heels for the Potions Master, he had been for a long time, even before Sirius pulled that prank that had nearly gotten Severus killed.

………

Harry heard footsteps going passed the room he and Ron were sharing and then he heard a door close. _Remus and Snape…ew…I suppose its not entirely impossible… But if they're together then why was Snape so mean to Remus when he was teaching? And why did he tell the school Rem is a werewolf?_

Harry soon fell asleep pondering this new topic of possible conversation between his friends and himself.

………

Remus curled into Severus' body and sighed in content, "I've missed this."

Severus wasn't a man that showed many emotions, but when he was around his lycanthropic lover he couldn't help but show his softer side, "So have I, love."

Remus smiled and kissed Severus on the lips, "Maybe I could come and see you at Hogwarts when school starts again?"

Severus rested his forehead against Remus', "Is that such good idea? It's hard enough to keep it low key right now."

Remus frowned, he knew that was Severus' way of saying _no._ "Frankly, I'm surprised Hermione hasn't said anything yet."

Severus sighed, "Me too. I just don't think it's a good idea, and you know why?"

Remus nodded silently, they were trying to keep their relationship as quiet as possible so that Voldemort didn't find out although, as Dumbledore suspected, the Dark Lord probably already knew, he had probably been tipped off by someone.

Remus soon drifted into the best night's sleep he had had since Sirius' death.

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It was early the next morning when Harry woke up again; he could hear someone moving out in the kitchen area. He rolled over in bed and heard a door open and he heard a strange little noise that only Hermione made when she had just woken up. He listened as her footsteps went down the hallway and then he heard voices again.

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"What are you doing here?"

Harry frowned; _Hermione doesn't sound very surprised…_

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"Do I not have permission to see my family?"

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"I guess so…but last time you saw me you said I was an insufferable know-it-all...again."

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"And you still are. But now I have to go, I have business to attend to."

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"All right. Will you be back?"

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"I don't know, I'll owl you."

Harry stared wide eyed up at the ceiling, _What the hell is going on?…Snape is being nice to her…this is _too_ weird._

………

It was gone noon when Remus rolled out of bed, he didn't usually sleep late, in fact he was an early riser but after Severus had turned up he had slept like a log for the rest of the night.

"We thought you'd gone and died on us." Said Ron as Remus opened the fridge.

Remus snorted, "No such luck. You're stuck with me, sorry."

Harry glanced at Hermione and saw her roll her eyes and shake her head, he noticed that she seemed to be quite used to Remus joking like that. _This is very interesting…I wonder if I should ask?_

………

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A/N: Yes, how was that? And F.Y.I, Remus looks nothing like the one in the movie…my version of Remmie is hot and no one's gonna take that away from me!

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Next Chapter: Severus visits again and he and Remus are caught kissing in the kitchen by the trio.


	2. Caught In the Act

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I don't own very much except Maria Lupin-(Snape). I also own Jules the waitress.

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AffectedMangoO: Ah don't worry, there will be a new chapter soon, I'm just seeing how many reviews I can get if I wait a few days between each chapter **:-P**

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Queen Vampyre Akasha: I don't know who keeps reporting me, but I hope it doesn't happen again! Glad ya like my story and I still have to go and check out _Beautiful Stranger!_

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Wyall Jared: You guessed right Hermione's parentage! Ha ha, I don't mind the Remus in the film now, he just isn't my dream Remus if you know what I mean? And he isn't too bad looking I agree **:-D**

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Fallen Angel of Hell: Glad you find it interesting!

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Chapter 2:_ Caught in the Act_

Ron snorted when he saw Hermione's results from their _O.W.L_ Potions exam, "Snape's going to have a fit when he realises you're smarter than Malfoy…Serve the greasy git right."

Harry, who was still pondering the happenings of the night a couple of weeks ago, noted Hermione's reaction to Ron's _'greasy git'_ remark.

Hermione scowled at Ron; "You should respect your elders, Ron." Her voice was as cold as the look she was giving Ron.

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Wow…this really is too weird… Thought Harry, he had nearly plucked up the courage to ask Hermione or Remus about this _Snape thing,_ but not quite yet.

Ron backed away a little, "Man, what's gotten into you? Its only Snape, he hates you anyway."

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How I'd love to smack this idiot… Thought Hermione in annoyance. "I just think everyone deserves a chance…and anyway, he's in the Order of the Phoenix, we know for a _fact _that he isn't bad."

Remus smirked as he read Maria a story in an armchair near the teenagers, _That's my girl…_

Ron narrowed his eyes at her, "Why are you defending him?"

"I'm not." Replied Hermione as innocently as she could, but it was very unconvincing.

"Yes you are!"

Hermione scowled at Ron again, "You wouldn't understand Ron, it takes a minor bout of intelligence to get it."

Remus glanced between the scowling Ron and Hermione and then he looked to Harry who was rolling his eyes, "Are they always like this?"

Harry looked to him and nodded, "Sometimes even worse."

Ron shrugged, "I don't care, I still don't like him."

Hermione growled quietly, "No one's making you spend time with him, you don't have to take potions anymore. And with your O.W.L mark he'd probably ban you from his classroom anyway."

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That settles it, Thought Harry in conclusion. _She obviously knows Snape a lot better than we do, its obvious she likes him enough to defend him._

Ron was still scowling at the brown haired girl in front of him, "Is it that time of the month or something?"

Hermione looked ready to explode with rage, _"Yes, _as a matter of fact, _it is._ So _don't_ make me hurt you."

"Okay, geez, calm down." Said Ron, still moving further away from the angry girl.

It was then that a knock sounded on the door.

"Can someone get that?" Asked Remus as he noticed Maria was asleep on his lap.

"I will." Said Hermione getting up, with one last glare at Ron she headed out into the hallway and opened the front door and found herself facing the aforementioned Potions Master. She managed to control herself enough to keep from squealing in joy and jumping on him. "Professor."

Severus smirked, "Granger. May I come in?"

Hermione smiled, "Of course." She moved out of the way and let him passed; she closed the door again and followed the Potions Master back through the house and to the living room where the person he wanted to talk to was.

Remus managed to move Maria off his lap and onto the chair without waking her as he got up, "Ah Severus, good to see you again."

Severus' expression remained as one of the utmost loathing for his former-Marauder lover, but it was all an act, he didn't like being mean to Remus but he had to do it to keep up their façade. "Pleasure. I have your Wolfsbane ready Lupin."

"Thank you." Remus smiled and led the Potions Master to the kitchen so they could talk more freely.

Ron scowled at the back of the Potions Master as he left the room behind Remus, "God I hate him."

Hermione regarded Ron with a look of pure contempt before turning on her heel and leaving the living room, as she stormed off down the hallway she muttered angrily under her breath. _"…So annoying…I'll kill him before the summer's out…stupid, ignorant bastard…"_

………

Remus quickly downed the Wolfsbane Potion and pulled a disgusted face, "I swear you make this disgusting out of spite."

Severus leaned back against the bench and crossed his arms with a smirk on his face, "That would be true if I had something to be spiteful for."

Remus drank down half a glass of water to try and get rid of the taste, "Isn't there anything you can do for the taste?"

"I told you, I'm working on it." Replied Severus, he moved away from the bench and slipped his arms around Remus' slim waist. "I'm also working a version of it for Maria."

Remus smiled, their four-year-old could not drink the Wolfsbane Potion, it was almost like a poison for the little girl. After doing some research Severus had found out that the potion had only ever been tested on adult werewolves so no one actually knew whether it would be suitable for young ones, like Maria. "I'm sure she'd appreciate that."

"Mm, that's what I thought." Severus moved his head down slightly and kissed Remus on the lips.

Within seconds the kiss deepened, both of the men forgetting about the two boys down the hall that could just walk in on them. Remus ran his hands through Severus' dark hair as they kissed.

The blissful moment was soon cut short by a loud crash and a profane exclamation.

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"SHIT!"

Severus pulled away from Remus in surprise at the noise coming from somewhere near where Hermione had stormed off to, "What's wrong with her?"

Remus smirked, "Girl thing."

"Oh…"

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It was late the next morning when Hermione finally surfaced from her bedroom again; she had locked herself in there after she had stormed out of the living room the evening before.

Hermione wandered out to the kitchen where she could smell coffee brewing, it was a habit of Remus' to have coffee around lunchtime every day. "Morning." She yawned and stretched.

"Barely."

Hermione yawned again and looked at the clock, _11:57._ "I was tired."

"Tantrums do that to you." Commented Remus as he read the Daily Prophet.

Hermione scowled at him, though she knew he wasn't watching, "I was _not_ having a tantrum, I was annoyed. Where are Harry and…the other one?"

Remus smirked, "They've gone into town, the civility of their Potions Master that early in the morning was scaring them."

Hermione laughed and went to pour a cup of coffee, which she had gotten into the habit of drinking. "Did he stay last night?"

"No, he turned up again this morning." Replied Remus, he sat back in his chair and surveyed the brunette in front of him. "Are you all right with keeping all this from Harry and Ron?"

Hermione frowned at the fruit bowl before looking back to one of the favourite men in her life, "I was to start with... No one makes it easy for me though, Ron with his _'I hate Snape'_ craze and dad with his _'I hate everyone, especially the Gryffindors'_ thing. And on top of that, Harry's giving me funny looks."

Remus nodded in understanding, he knew all too well what went on in Severus' classes, he knew a lot of students didn't like his lover, especially the Gryffindors and he knew Severus returned the feelings. "Well, perhaps you should let them know…I think Harry does know something."

Hermione sighed, "You think I should?"

"Its up to you." Replied Remus, "But if it bothers you I would say something."

Hermione stared at the table in thought and then she looked to Maria who was sitting opposite her, "What do you think I should do?"

Maria stared at her and then held out a chocolate chip biscuit, "Cookie."

Hermione shrugged and took it, "Good call."

………

After having brunch and a shower, Hermione got dressed and set off on a walk into the town, which was about half an hour's walk away from Remus' house. As she dawdled along the side of the road she wondered about how she was going to give Harry and Ron the news about her real parentage. She figured Harry would be the easier one to tell because it seemed like he was already figuring it out, Ron however, might take it the wrong way and suddenly hate her.

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So, I think I'll just tell them straight out. Thought Hermione as she neared the town. _Man, what am I going to do if they ask if I have Godparents? They'd freak out if I told them who my Godfather and Godmother are._

Hermione wandered down the main street of the small town and headed into the first café on the right, she gazed around and saw Harry and Ron over at one side of the café laughing so she went over to them after buying a bottle of coke. "Hey guys."

"Hi." Harry smiled at her.

Ron didn't smile he just nodded in acknowledgement.

Hermione sat down and opened her drink, "I need to talk to you two about-" She stopped suddenly. _What am I doing? Why should I do this on my own? I think my parents should help._ "You know what? Nevermind."

Harry raised an eyebrow, _I think I know what she was going to say, but if she doesn't want to then that's her choice._

"So, was the greasy git still there when you got up?" Questioned Ron with all the hostility you would associate with a Malfoy.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him again; "He wasn't there, actually. Why do you have to be such a jackass about him?"

"I'm not!" Replied Ron scowling. "You hate him just as much as me."

"Don't make assumptions Ron." Replied Hermione coolly. "I don't hate Professor Snape, I never have and I never will. You're going to have to live with that, and if you can't then…so be it."

Just then a waitress came and cleared the table next to them, she smiled when she saw Hermione, "Hey kid. How are you?"

Hermione looked up at her and smiled, "Hi Jules. I'm good thanks, you?"

Jules, or Julia nodded, "Yeah, can't complain, I'm finally making a bit o' cash." She was only seventeen and she went to the local Muggle School in the town. "How are your parents?"

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Shit. Thought Hermione,_ Ah, they won't figure it out…_ "They're good, I've hardly seen my dad since school ended though, _busy_ apparently."

"Aw bugger man." Replied Jules; "Don't boarding school teachers come home for the summer though?"

Hermione smirked, "You would think, wouldn't you? I don't know where he is, but he does visit. What about you?…Oh, I almost forgot, these are my friends from school, Harry and Ron." She indicated to each boy.

Jules grinned at the boys, "Hi."

…

After Hermione had left, Remus had made sure Maria was happily occupied and then he went to lie down for a while, the upcoming full moon always made him feel really tired. He curled up under the warm covers and soon drifted off to sleep.

Severus apparated to a spot about five minutes walk away from the house his family was in and he headed through the small forest and to the house. When he got there he didn't bother knocking as he figured the children probably wouldn't be there as Harry and Ron had both left when he was there in the morning.

He found Maria in the living room playing with her toys, Severus made sure she was all right before continuing his search of Remus. He soon found the tired werewolf fast asleep in bed looking absolutely adorable, like he always did when he was asleep.

…

The three teenagers were dawdling slowly back from town, they were walking in amiable silence until Ron spoke.

"Mione?"

"Mm?"

"Why did Jules say your dad is a boarding school teacher?" Asked Ron curiously. "I thought your parents were dentists."

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Oh crap, she did didn't she?…Well Ron, the Grangers are actually muggle relatives of my daddy Remus Lupin. Thought Hermione, "Um, well my…my dad teaches at a dentist school…" She walked on ahead of the two boys who were giving her curious looks.

…

Remus awoke to the gentle fingers combing through his sleep mussed brown hair; he kept his eyes closed as he spoke, "How long have you been here?"

Severus kissed him on the lips, "Only about ten minutes, did I wake you?"

Remus opened his eyes a little bit and smiled tiredly, "Yeah…" He yawned widely and moved so his head was on Severus' lap. "Can you stay tonight?"

Severus continued running his fingers through Remus' short brown hair, "As long as it doesn't cause too much disruption."

Remus closed his eyes again; "She's going to tell them."

"So you spoke to her then?" Replied Severus, he wondered what would happen once _Potter_ and _Weasley_ found out Hermione's secret.

"Mmhmm." Remus was starting to drift off to sleep again. "Be nice."

Severus smirked, "That's asking a bit much."

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It had taken the trio nearly two hours to walk back from the town, they had taken a detour across a field full of flowers and they had wandered around in the forest after Hermione saw Crookshanks run in there. They finally got back to the house around _5pm,_ when they went in they heard voices and they were immediately recognised to be Remus and in Ron's words, _The Greasy Git,_ which earned him a smack around the head from Hermione.

…

Remus yawned again, "I'm not tired…"

Severus, who was standing behind the smaller man, slipped his arms around Remus' waist and kissed him on the neck, "The full moon is in two days, you need to rest." He trailed his lips up to Remus' jaw. "As much as I love you, I do prefer it when you've had a good night's sleep."

Remus managed to turn around in Severus' arms so they were face to face, his brown eyes mockingly sad, "You should love me unconditionally."

Severus let one of his hands travel up under Remus' shirt, "Oh I do you filthy monster…" He trailed off as Remus kissed him.

Neither of the men heard the teenagers turn up in the house and at the kitchen door.

"What the-"

"Holy hell!"

"Oh no…"

Severus and Remus were too shocked to move far away from each other, they just stayed in the same position and stared at the teenagers.

Harry and Ron both looked shocked while Hermione was between them holding her cat with an eyebrow raised and a look of amusement on her face.

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A/N: Wow, a long chapter! Yey!

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Next Chapter: A week after Severus and Remus are caught snogging in the kitchen. Ron has gone home, Harry is torn between his friends and Hermione is upset and while Remus if away talking with Dumbledore about important matters to do with Harry, Severus is the only one left to comfort his distraught daughter.


	3. Butterbeer and Chocolate

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I only own Maria and the plot.

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AffectedMangoO: Ha ha, well, there will be more Sev/Rem fluff eventually! Yeah, wouldn't it be fun to walk in on them snogging though? He he…I'd be happy about it, although if I was Harry and Ron I'd be shocked, and if I was Hermione I'd be a little disgusted at seeing me parents doing that! …I'm gonna shut up now.

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Wyall Jared: Glad you liked it!

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Lady Guena: He he, glad you liked them getting caught!

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Piper of Locksley: I'm glad you didn't just shun this story and never come back! Is this update soon enough for you?

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Fallen Angel of Hell: I'd hate catching my parents in the act too… _shudders_

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Don't ask why there is a refrigerator in the Lupin house but there is. Mainly cause I read that Remus was only a half-blood so he's gonna have some muggle stuff in his house. F.Y.I. JK Rowling said he was a half blood.

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Chapter 3:_ Butterbeer and Chocolate_

It had been a week since Severus and Remus had been caught kissing in the kitchen. Ron had gone back home to the Burrow, Harry had become torn between his friends especially as he had to stay at Remus' and Hermione was miserable now that one of her best friends had turned his back on her.

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Remus had gotten an owl from Dumbledore that morning asking him to go to Grimmauld Place for a meeting. He hated going into that house, knowing Sirius had to spend the remaining months of his life in a place he hated, it had hurt him seeing Sirius so down about being back in there when they were alone together before he died. And now he had to face the same emptiness of that hellhole that Sirius had been succumbed to for nearly a year.

He soon heard footsteps in the hallway, _Ah; one of them is up._ Remus only had to worry about Harry and Hermione now that Ron had gone home, Hermione had said it was because they had had a falling out but Remus was fairly certain there was more behind that. But he hadn't found out what as his daughter had been spending every waking moment of the last week shut in her bedroom with books and magazines, only surfacing for food, drinks and bathroom breaks and even then she wouldn't talk. It was starting to worry him and Harry hadn't a clue as to what was wrong with her either.

Remus had brought it up in conversation with Severus but he hadn't been much help either, he had just said _'let her cool off on her own, you know she'll only talk to us when she wants to.'_

Remus looked up as the first teenager entered the kitchen, it was Hermione, she looked very pale and withdrawn, and she had dark bags under her eyes. "Good morning." He frowned at his daughter's appearance; it was obvious she was beating herself up over this whole thing about Ron.

Hermione grunted in reply and went to the fridge for a cold drink.

Remus sighed but he decided not to say anything in case it upset her, "I'm going to be going out later to talk with Dumbledore."

"Kay whatever." Replied Hermione quietly.

Remus studied the back of her head, "Can I trust you and Harry to keep an eye on your sister?"

"Yes."

Remus raised an eyebrow; "Can I trust you to stop sulking?"

"I'm _not_ sulking." Grumbled Hermione.

………

Remus left for his talk with Dumbledore on a bad note with Hermione. On his way down the garden path Remus saw Severus materialise out of thin air. He gave a weak smile as Severus came towards him.

Severus raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

Remus crossed his arms as he stopped, "I had an argument with Hermione this morning, she's still annoyed at me now."

Severus frowned and rested his hands on Remus' waist, "I thought we agree not to say anything to her?"

"I know, but I hate seeing her so down." Replied Remus almost helplessly. "I mean, she barely speaks now and she spends all day in her room-"

"She's a teenager." Said Severus cutting Remus off before he got too hysterical about it. "You were one once."

Remus sighed and nodded his head, "I know… Can you talk to her?" Severus gave him a _look._ "Please? She probably won't talk to me now…and you seem to understand better than I do."

Severus frowned, he really didn't want to push her, if the girl didn't want to talk then she didn't have to. "All right, I'll try and talk with her, but she may just end up being annoyed at me as well." He noticed with a silent groan, that Remus had resorted to the puppy eyes. "I said I would do it didn't I?"

Remus gave a small-satisfied smile, "Thank you." He slipped his arms around Severus' neck and kissed him on the lips. "It's just the girls by the way, if you're going in."

………

Severus saw Remus off before heading into the house, which was now only occupied by his two daughters, Harry had apparently gone to the Weasleys to stay tonight to see if he could talk to Ron about Hermione. He peered into the living room and saw that Maria was once again happily playing, she had made a quick recovery from last months full moon this time, it usually took her a long time to recover, as she was still only little.

Severus headed into the kitchen; he had already come up with a plan to get Hermione to talk. One thing he knew, was that that girl had inherited Remus' fondness for chocolate so he figured he could probably turn to bribery to get her to talk. Severus grabbed a big block of chocolate out of the cupboard, making a note to himself to replace it before Remus found out, and then he grabbed a six pack of butterbeer out of the fridge and headed to Hermione's room.

…

Hermione was sitting on her bedroom floor with her back against her bed; she had a pile of magazines and books next to her as well as half a bowl of ice cream and three empty bottles of coke. She was still in her pyjamas and very unlike her normal self she hadn't even touched her homework for school yet.

Hermione grumbled in annoyance when she heard a knock on her door, _"Come in."_ She watched as the door opened, half expecting it to be her dad looking to apologise for upsetting her again, but no, it wasn't. It was the other one. "Oh great, my lucky day." She muttered sarcastically.

Severus raised an eyebrow, "Just as lovely as we were last time I visited hm?"

Hermione glared at him, "If you've only come to mock me then leave me alone."

"I have not come to mock you, Hermione." Said Severus entering the messy room properly. "I'm here to talk."

"Oh god, you're even worse at that than dad is, and he _is _understanding." Scoffed Hermione, she crossed her legs and scowled at the ground.

Severus sighed, _I should have known this wouldn't be easy._ He went over to Hermione and sat down on the floor next to her, then he put the chocolate and the butterbeer in front of her. "I come bearing gifts."

Hermione eyed the chocolate and the butterbeer in front of her before turning her brown eyes to her father suspiciously, "Are you trying to bribe me?"

"Yes, I am."

Hermione shrugged and opened the block of chocolate, "Fine with me."

Severus watched her for a moment and smirked, "So, will you talk?"

Hermione glanced at him out the corners of her eyes; "Do I have to?"

"I think it would be best, don't you?" Replied Severus as he opened a bottle of butterbeer.

Hermione sighed; there really was no point in trying to argue with this man, he always got the last word no matter what. "Fine…"

…

"You want me to come back and teach." Repeated Remus staring at the Headmaster of Hogwarts like he was mad. "But…they all know about me. I'll probably scare the students."

"No more than Severus, I dare say." Replied Albus smiling slightly. "Remus, I have been going through all of the applicants and I still feel you are the best man for the job, you have plenty of skill in this area…plus, I think it might be best if we have more Order members in the school. Myself, Minerva and Severus are not enough."

Remus sighed and reluctantly nodded, "All right, I'll do it. But…what are the students' parents going to think, and the School Governors?"

Albus held up his hand to stop Remus from asking anymore questions, "I will deal with that my boy, don't you worry. Now, there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about." He saw Remus raised his eyebrows curiously. "It involves Sirius…"

…

"That's the thing though," Said Hermione as broke off a few more chunks of chocolate. "Ron's always been a prick, he's always had some prejudice…he's even jealous of Harry, which is _stupid,_ just like him."

Severus was beginning to wish he hadn't asked, but he was quite interested to know what went on amongst Hogwarts' most infamous trio, the _Dream Team._

Hermione huffed quietly, "He doesn't like werewolves…that was made obvious in the Shrieking Shack when I told everyone… He called me a _Mudblood_ in fourth year."

Severus raised his eyebrows, "Really?"

Hermione shrugged and nodded, "Yeah, even if I'm not a Muggleborn it's still offensive. Stupid bastard…can you give him lots of detentions?"

"That would be a little unfair don't you think?" Replied Severus; "Even I won't give detentions out as favours, the student has to do something wrong in front of me first."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Oh like you _need_ a reason."

…

Remus couldn't believe what he had just heard from Dumbledore, "Y-you mean you can bring Sirius back?"

Dumbledore nodded at Remus over his cup of tea, "I think so, yes. I will have to look into it a bit more but the possibility is there." Remus nodded slowly. "But I will ask you not to mention this to Harry, I don't want to get his hopes up too high in case we fail in bringing Sirius back."

Remus nodded again, he gazed at the table thoughtfully for a moment before looking back to Dumbledore, "…If you are able to bring Sirius back then what about-"

"James and Lily?"

"Yeah." Remus nodded, "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of James but yeah."

Dumbledore placed his cup of tea back on the table and he folded his hands in his lap in thought. "Well, I was really looking into bringing people back from beyond the veil but, if we succeed with Sirius then I see no reason why we can't try and bring others back."

…

It was around three hours after Severus had turned up now and quite unusual for the Potions Master, he was still chatting with his daughter and listening to her moan and bitch about her friends and her life. And to be completely honest, he was quite enjoying his time with the fifteen year old, she reminded him so much of Remus when he was fifteen as well.

…

Hermione shifted and put her head on her father's shoulder, "I was wondering…"

"Mm?"

"Did you want me?" Asked Hermione quietly. She had always wondered this considering her father's great dislike of most people under twenty.

Severus glanced at the top of her head, "What do you mean?"

Hermione sighed, "When you found out I was on the way, did you want me?"

Severus bit his bottom lip, she had to ask the one question he really didn't want to have to answer. "Well…honestly?"

"Yes."

"Okay…" Severus sighed. "When I first found out you were on the way, I must admit, I wasn't too fond of the idea of becoming a father…especially at that time."

"Because of Voldemort?"

Severus raised his eyebrows, he had never heard Hermione say _Voldemort's_ name before. "Because of him, yes, and because I wasn't expecting it…I'd never really thought about having children, especially with another man." He noticed the silence from Hermione, he was hoping he didn't just upset her. He moved slightly and put an arm around her. "It doesn't mean I don't want you now though."

Hermione cuddled up to him; "It doesn't seem that way sometimes."

Severus kissed her on top of the head, "You know why I'm like that, it doesn't mean I love you any less."

Hermione smiled, "I know."

………

"What did you say to her?" Questioned Remus that night after he got home, he had seen the smile on Hermione's face and now he was very curious.

Severus just smiled innocently, "Nothing. Nothing at all, I just asked her what was wrong like you begged me too."

Remus watched his lover leave the kitchen suspiciously, after contemplating Severus' answer for a moment Remus just shook his head and followed the dark haired man to the bedroom.

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A/N: Yes, I know, that took a while to get written.

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Next Chapter: School is back. Ron is still being nasty to Hermione.


	4. Back to School

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I only own Maria.

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Wyall Jared: He he, you're name is on top again! Yeah, Remus is a big worrier when it comes to his kids. Glad you liked it!

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Piper of Locksley: And here is another quick update! The next one won't be quite as quick as I haven't finished the chapter yet. Your deadly bucket of puffskins won't have long to wait I don't think **:-P**

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Well, I'm annoyed. But I hope all my old reviewers find this story again and continue reading!

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Chapter 4:_ Back to School_

It was bright and sunny Wednesday morning in the third week of the new school year and Hermione was running late. She had had a late night last night, it had been a full moon and she was worried about her little sister as this was the first time Maria would transform away from home and that would probably cause problems. Well, it was the first time she had transformed away from home and actually understood what was happening.

Hermione ran from Gryffindor Tower and she sprinted along the corridors and down the stairs until she came to the dungeons, she soon skidded to a halt outside the Potions Classroom door. She stopped a moment to catch her breath and checked her watch. _Oh no, ten minutes late…_ Hermione knew she would be in trouble, even if Professor Snape did understand why she had stayed up half the night. In fact, when she sheepishly entered the classroom she was mildly surprised to see their Potions Master upright as she knew he would have been with Maria and Remus all night.

"Granger, you're late."

Hermione bit her lip as she dropped her bag on the floor next to her seat, "I know, I'm sorry, it won't ever happen again Professor."

"Make sure it doesn't." Replied Professor Snape darkly.

Hermione nodded and quickly sat down, she leaned over to Harry and whispered to him, "What are we doing?"

Harry smirked, "The potion on the board. Teacher's pet."

Hermione thumped him in the shoulder and then she glanced around the classroom and noticed there were a lot of incredulous looks coming from the other students. She leaned back over to Harry, "Do you think maybe I should remind him that he didn't take points?"

Harry shook his head, "Hey, if he forgot, don't tell him. We've already lost enough points since school started."

Hermione shrugged, "Fair enough." She pulled her books out of her bag and carefully copied down the potion ingredients and procedure on the board before she started helping Harry make it.

……

By the end of class Gryffindor had only lost _15_ points mainly because Neville and Ron managed to make their potion explode, which greatly annoyed the tired Potions Master.

"Granger, stay behind. The rest of you, get out." Growled Snape irritably.

Hermione continued packing everything back into her bag as everyone else left, she managed to over hear a comment from Ron as he walked passed.

"How come we got points taken off us and _Granger_ didn't?" Ron passed a sneer at her and Hermione glared back.

Hermione closed her bag, upon hearing Ron speak she began to wonder whether he would spread the secret about her true parentage, he had said _Granger_ in a mocking voice. She headed up to the front of the classroom where the Professor had his back to her as he sifted through papers on his desk. "You're not going to take away my Prefect badge for being late are you?"

Severus snorted quietly, "I'm not quite that cruel Hermione. Do you have an explanation for your tardiness?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly at his back; she hated it when he spoke to her like the Professor he was when they were alone. "I was up all night worrying about Maria and I only got to sleep about four this morning, and in my defense, no one woke me up…"

Severus sighed and turned to face her, "All right, I'll let this slide _once,_ but don't ever let it happen again."

Hermione nodded, "I won't. I promise."

"Good. Off you go."

Hermione turned obediently and headed up the middle of the classroom to the door, when she got there she turned back to her father, "Are they all right?"

Severus glanced up at her and nodded, "They're just tired, that's all. No serious damage."

Hermione smiled, "Okay."

…

It was lunchtime now; Hermione had managed to get out of points being taken off after being late to first Potions and then Defense Against the Dark Arts after that. But she had explained to their relief teacher for the second lesson that Professor Snape had wanted a word with her. But not getting into trouble for her _tardiness_ had put Hermione in the firing line of Ron's nasty comments once again.

"Just ignore him 'Mione." Said Harry as they both sat down at Gryffindor Table for lunch.

Hermione huffed, "How can I ignore him? What if he tells everyone?"

Harry shrugged, "Chances are, no one will believe him." He lowered his voice as he continued. "I mean seriously, no one's going to believe that Professor Snape is your father. You look nothing like him and you're a lot nicer."

Hermione smiled slightly, "I suppose…" She was glad to have Harry as her friend, he was still sticking by her side even when he was still friends with Ron. But Hermione could tell that Harry was having just about enough of Ron, she knew her ex-red headed friend was being nearly as insufferable as Draco usually was.

"On the other hand," Continued Harry quietly. "You do look a lot like Remus."

"True." Hermione nodded, she started choosing what to eat for lunch when she heard Ron's voice again.

__

"You know, if a werewolf reproduced its kid would probably be just as grotesque as one of those beasts."

Harry put a hand on Hermione's arm when he saw her knuckles going white from how tight she had clenched her fists. "Ignore him."

Hermione pulled her arm away from Harry and got up, "I'm suddenly not very hungry." With that, she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder before storming out of the Great Hall.

Once she had put a good distance between herself and the Great Hall Hermione stopped in a corridor and leaned back against a wall. She rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. _Why does Ron have to be such an asshole about this? It doesn't concern him! Why can't he accept it? So what if he doesn't like my parents that much? What about me and Maria…and Harry?_

Hermione sighed and moved away from the wall, she continued on her way through the dungeons until she came to the Potions Classroom again. She just wanted a hug from at least one of her parents, and neither of them were at lunch, one for obvious reasons, so she thought they would be in the Potion Master's quarters.

Hermione entered the classroom and went through to Professor Snape's office; she headed down a short, dark hallway and to a heavy wooden, which she knocked on.

"Who is it?"

It was a hoarse voice that replied so Hermione assumed Remus must be up, "Hermione."

"Come in."

Hermione spoke the password to the quarters and entered when the door opened. She dropped her bag on the floor and went over to an armchair, where she wanted to stay for the rest of the day.

"And to what do we owe this pleasure?" Asked Remus tiredly from where he was curled up on the couch under a blanket with his head on Severus' lap.

Hermione tucked her legs under herself in the armchair, "I've had a crap morning and no one else wants to listen to me complain."

"And you think we do?" Questioned Severus raising one dark eyebrow. Hermione scowled at him and Remus hit him, albeit weakly. "Sorry."

Remus turned his brown eyes back to Hermione, "What's the matter sweetie?"

Hermione scowled at the carpet like it had annoyed her greatly as she spoke, "I'm tired, I was late for both Potions and Defense today, I killed a rat in Transfiguration because I cocked up the charm and Ron's been getting at me again."

"You don't have to put up with him, you know?" Replied Remus, his voice quiet and croaky. He noticed that Severus was wisely keeping his mouth shut for once, he had probably finally realised that some of the things he would say would upset their daughter.

"How can I not put up with him? I have to see him everyday in class and in the common room." Mumbled Hermione crossing her arms. "There's no escaping the little twat."

…

__

Well they weren't much help, some parents! Thought Hermione in annoyance as sat down in Charms next to Harry.

As everyone else was still entering the classroom after lunch, Harry leaned over to Hermione, "Where did you go?"

Hermione got her things out of her bag; "I went to see my parents."

"Oh…"

…

The rest of the day went fine, Hermione managed to avoid Ron when classes had finished by going to the library so she could do her homework.

__

"Granger."

Hermione frowned at her parchment when she heard her fake surname whispered, "Go away Draco."

"Now why would I do that?" Replied Draco Malfoy, his voice the usual arrogant drawl he saved for everyone bar his father. He sat down at the table next to her. "What's the matter?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Like you care."

"I do care." Replied Draco honestly. "You know I only pretend to hate you."

"I know that." Said Hermione quietly so that she didn't draw Madame Pince's attention. "But right now, I really can't be doing with your half-arsed comments, okay? So if you're going to gloat about my failing friendships then you can just go and crawl back under that rock you came from."

Draco raised an eyebrow; "I wasn't going too. I'd rather not get on your bad side, for fear of my manhood."

"What manhood?" Questioned Hermione bitterly.

"Hey, I didn't insult you." Grumbled Draco scowling at her.

Hermione glanced at him momentarily before going back to her work, "Sorry, I'm just really annoyed okay? And my parents aren't exactly supportive either."

"More supportive than mine." Replied Draco quietly.

"Your dad _is_ supportive, you just don't seem to realise it." Said Hermione putting her quill down at last.

Hermione and Draco had grown up together, with Lucius and Severus being friends they had no choice really. When Hermione had been born, Lucius was named her Godfather and Narcissa was her unofficial Godmother, just like Severus was Draco's Godfather. With the Malfoy influences as well as Severus', Hermione had nearly ended up in Slytherin, but the Sorting Hat had thought differently and had decided to put her where her other father had been, _Gryffindor._

Hermione and Draco were still friends, but they had to be nasty to each other to keep from anyone finding out the truth, mainly the truth about Hermione but there was also a closely guarded secret that Lucius had that he didn't want anyone to find out. And if his son suddenly turned soft on the supposed _Mudblood_ Granger, that could be ruined.

…

Dinner was not as pleasant as Hermione's peaceful afternoon would dictate, well; it didn't stay pleasant for long. She spent most of dinner chatting with Neville and Seamus as Harry was sitting with Ron a little further down, no doubt trying to talk some sense into the red head once again.

Hermione noticed that both her parents were at dinner this evening so she figured that the full moon really couldn't have been that bad, though she knew Maria was probably still asleep. She glanced down the table and saw Ron was glaring at her once again, she looked away and back up to the head table and she was slightly surprised to see Professor Snape watching Gryffindor table very closely. She wondered if maybe he could sense that she was close to breaking point.

Hermione gazed down at her plate, to be honest, she did feel like just letting go of all her self-control and beating the living daylights out of Ron for making her feel so angry. If only he would go far enough to provoke her into it.

About ten minutes later, a few Gryffindors had left the Great Hall after eating, there were now far less people between Hermione and Ron, so she could hear what he was saying far more clearly than before and what she did hear was not very nice at all.

__

"…I don't care Harry, the stupid tramp should have told us the truth then shouldn't she?…She's Slytherin trash…"

That was the final straw. Hermione got up from her seat and stormed down the table to where Ron was, she tapped him on the shoulder and waited for him to turn around.

"Speak of the devi-"

Ron never finished his sentence as Hermione fist connected with his nose, sending him off his seat and to the ground.

Remus stared wide eyed at what his daughter just did and Severus had choked on his drink when he saw Hermione's fist connect with Ron's face. He was a little disappointed that she had resorted to violence but he couldn't deny that he was pleased to see _Weasley_ get his comeuppance.

__

"Granger!"

Professor McGonagall was on her feet and already heading towards the fight.

"How _dare_ you insult me over something you know _nothing about!"_ Shouted Hermione at Ron as he started to get back to his feet, surprised at being floored by a girl. "I _wanted _to tell you but I wasn't _allowed to!"_ She slapped him. _"I hate you!"_

With that, Hermione turned on her heal and stormed out of the Great Hall, tears streaming down her face. She ignored the shout from Professor McGonagall telling her to _get back here this instant_. She didn't care where she went so long as it was away from everyone else.

Everyone left in the Great Hall was stunned by Hermione's impromptu outburst, only a few people knew that she had been heading towards this for the last few weeks.

Remus had put his face in his hands up at the Head Table, he knew there was no point in going after her and right at the moment, he really didn't feel energetic enough to do so. He didn't even notice Severus leave the Great Hall all of a sudden.

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A/N: Damn ff.net.

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Next Chapter: Severus comes back from a Deatheater meeting, feeling the consequences of annoying Voldemort. Hermione is still angry and aggressive. And Remus is starting to lose his tether with his daughter.


	5. The Dark Lord's Calling

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I only own Maria, but she probably won't crop up too often.

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Blonded: Nice to see you reviewing again.

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Lupin Wolf: Glad you like it!

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Eleonora1: You're right about Lucius. Oh I love your idea about Ron! It would be fun to see what the residents of Knockturn Alley do to him.

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Fallen Angel of Hell: Glad you like it!

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Piper of Locksley: I'm hurrying! You shouldn't have to wait too much longer!

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AffectedMangoO: Far more Sev/Rem in this chapter! Ha ha, I never used to like Hermione as well, but after seeing her punch Draco in the third film I've grown quite fond of her, and I am trying to make her sound more fun.

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I just _had_ to put the violent side of Hermione into this fic, especially after seeing _Prisoner of Azkaban_ and watching her deck Draco.

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Chapter 5:_ The Dark Lord's Calling_

After her violent outburst in the Great Hall and her initial running off, Hermione was tracked down the next day and punished. She had to sit through a supposedly _short_ meeting in Dumbledore's office with the Headmaster, McGonagall as head of Gryffindor House and her parents. The meeting had gone well to start with, Remus kept his mouth closed, Hermione knew when he didn't say anything to do with punishing his children it usually meant he was quite angry.

The meeting had gone smoothly until McGonagall mentioned taking away Hermione's Prefect badge, that had gotten Severus' hackles up, even he didn't believe taking Hermione's authority away was a fair punishment. Until then, he had gone along with the detentions and the near suspension but that was going too far.

Hermione had finally gotten a fortnight's worth of detentions and she was banned from the next two Hogsmeade trips for punching Ron and breaking his nose. But she managed to find out that Ron was being punished for harassing her since school started, which cheered her up a little.

……………

It was late one night and Severus was sitting up in bed reading a book by candlelight. He felt something on his lap, so he looked down and saw Remus' head was there, quite obviously using his lap as a pillow. "Comfortable?"

"Mmhmm."

Severus turned back to his book, it was a new Potions textbook and it contained a big section on the Wolfsbane Potion, which was mainly why he had bought it. He was still looking to make it taste nicer because Remus never stopped whining about the foul taste.

"Sev?"

"Mm?"

Remus turned onto his back and gazed up at his lover through the dim light, reading in the semi-darkness couldn't be good for Severus' eyesight. "Do you ever want more children?"

Severus glanced down into the curious brown eyes before looking back to his book, "I don't know… Why? Do you?"

Remus shrugged as best he could while he was lying on his back; "Maybe…I haven't really given it that much thought."

"Then why ask?"

Remus closed his eyes and turned back onto his side, his head still resting comfortably on Severus' lap. "I have the sixth years after their Sex Ed class every Wednesday…they learnt about baby development today."

"Ah." Severus nodded slowly. He glanced down at his lover who appeared to be half asleep again, he folded the corner of the page in his book he was on and then closed it and put it down on the bedside table. He let his fingers trail lightly up and down Remus' arm thoughtfully. "…Would you like another one?"

Remus smiled faintly, "Maybe…after the war is over…"

Severus raised his eyebrows slightly; it wasn't like Remus to be so optimistic about the war. Personally, Severus didn't think he would live to see the end of it, especially if Voldemort started to suspect him even more than he already did. As for his family, he really didn't want to think about what could or _might_ happen to them, especially Hermione who was in a pretty vulnerable place by being friends with Harry.

………

It was Thursday evening and Hermione was in detention, once again. This time she was serving it under the watchful eye of Professor Snape, who had her scraping and cleaning down the desks in his classroom, washing out cauldrons, vials and bottles and doing various other potion related things.

Hermione rubbed her eyes tiredly, this sure was tedious work, she was currently scraping the gunk out of a cauldron that had apparently been used by someone who was about as inept at potions as Neville was. "Ugh! This is disgusting…" She heard a quiet snort of amusement from the front of the classroom where her father was busy making the Wolfsbane Potion. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Too much."

Hermione huffed and pushed some loose strands of hair behind her ear, "You've got one messed up sense of humour." She grumbled just loud enough for him to hear.

"Need I remind you, that you are in detention?" Replied Severus, not raising his eyes as he continued mixing the Wolfsbane Potion for his lover for the upcoming full moon.

Hermione shrugged, "Yeah, but I have the satisfaction of knowing that you _enjoyed_ seeing Ron getting his nose broken." She smiled knowingly when she received no answer.

…

Hermione checked her watch, she still had another hour of detention, how was she meant to do her homework if she had four hours of detention a night plus her Prefect duties? But according to McGonagall, she was capable enough of doing all three.

"How can you spend all your time in such close proximity with this disgusting crap?" Questioned Hermione as she poured something rotten down the sink, her eyes squeezed shut so she didn't have to look at it, in case she retched._ Again._

Severus glanced up at her in amusement; "I do recall you spending most of your younger years here, with me."

"Oh like I had a choice." Replied Hermione before picking up the next jar with something decidedly worse than the last one rotting away inside it. She opened the jar, looked away and upended it over the sink. "When can I go?"

"Why? Not enjoying your time here?" Replied Severus smirking slightly as he ladled some of the finished Wolfsbane Potion into a goblet.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she blindly picked up another jar full of something she didn't want to think about, "You're such a crack up."

"You know I am." Replied Severus before heading towards his quarters; he looked over his shoulder at Hermione. "When you're done with emptying and cleaning those jars, you can go."

"How magnanimous of you." Muttered Hermione sarcastically.

If anyone had been spectating on this detention, it would have been so obvious as to where Hermione got some of her attitude. She was like Remus in looks and her studious nature, but she had gained a lot of Severus' sarcastic and blunt attitude.

After Severus had left for his quarters to deliver the Wolfsbane Potion, Hermione continued with the revolting task of emptying and cleaning the glass jars. As she did so, she saw her father hurrying out of his office all of a sudden; he ran straight passed her and out of the classroom.

"What the…" Hermione looked back to the office doorway as Remus appeared running a hand tiredly through his hair. "What's wrong?"

Remus bit his bottom lip, "Voldemort's calling." He started making his way through the classroom. "You can go back to the tower now, I need to inform Dumbledore."

"Oh…" Hermione watched as her other father left the classroom as well. She hated knowing when there was a Deatheater meeting, it always worried her. But now she was worried, she didn't particularly want to go back to Gryffindor Tower where she could dwell on it, so she decided to stay in the Potions Classroom and finish what she was supposed to be doing.

……

Remus headed up the spiral staircase to Dumbledore's office, he could hear voices in there when he got to the door so he knocked.

"Come in."

Remus pushed the door open and went in, he apparently looked very worried judging by the looks on Dumbledore and McGonagall's faces.

"Is everything all right Remus?" Questioned Albus curiously.

Remus shook his head, "Voldemort just called, and judging by the owl Severus got from Lucius earlier…he's not very happy at all."

Albus nodded slowly, "All right, when he comes back, could you send him in this direction?"

Remus frowned slightly, "You mean _if_ he comes back."

Minerva glanced at him; "You are such a pessimist."

"I find I am safer being a pessimist." Replied Remus honestly.

………

Hermione was wandering along a corridor after curfew, doing her Prefect duties of rounding up students out of bed. She looked out of one of the corridor windows over looking the school grounds and the entrance gate and through the near full moon light she saw something that made her heart sink.

There, moving across the grounds, were two men, one with long blond hair and the other with dark hair. The dark haired man was being held up by the other one.

…

Lucius Malfoy struggled across the Hogwarts School grounds with the School's Potions Master, Severus was barely conscious as they got to the huge entrance to the castle. "Come on Sev, stay with me."

Once they were inside the castle, Lucius decided to drag the dark haired man down to his dungeon quarters, as he didn't think Severus could make it up the staircase to the Infirmary. He half carried Severus along the dungeon corridor and to the Potions classroom and straight through to the door to the quarters.

…

Remus had been dozing in an armchair when he was woken by a sharp knock on the door. He checked his watch; it was nearly _10pm,_ who would be knocking at this hour? Unless something had happened to Severus… He quickly got up and rushed to the door, his eyes widened when he saw who was on the other side. "What the hell happened?"

"Help me get him to a bed first, will you?" Replied Lucius tiredly.

Remus nodded worriedly, he wrapped an arm around Severus who now appeared to be completely unconscious and the two of them dragged the man to the bedroom.

Once they had gotten Severus to the bedroom and pushed him down on the bed, Remus turned back to Lucius, his eyebrows raised.

Lucius ran a hand through his usually immaculate hair, now it was very unruly. "Voldemort knows he's double agent."

Remus felt his heart sinking, "How?…Who told him?"

Lucius shook his head, "I don't know _who,_ but Dumbledore has another spy in his midst and whoever it is, tipped the Dark Lord off."

Remus furrowed his eyebrows, "But if this spy tipped him off about Severus…then what about you?"

Lucius, almost out of habit, lowered his voice, "Not many of the Order know I'm spying for Dumbledore."

"Oh…" Remus looked back to Severus who was still out cold. "What happened?"

Lucius folded his arms and leaned back against the chest of drawers, he looked as exhausted as Remus felt. "He was subjected to the _Cruciatus Curse_ a fair few times by Voldemort…along with a few other torture curses newly invented by Voldemort."

"How did you get him out? I thought Voldemort killed traitors." Replied Remus; his worried brown eyes fixed on Severus' unmoving body.

Lucius glanced at his old friend and then back to the brown haired man, "I persuaded Voldemort into letting me _have fun_ with him at the manor. Thankfully, he doesn't think I have deceived him yet."

Remus nodded slowly, and then he turned his gaze back to Lucius, "Thanks for helping him."

"Anytime."

………

It was breakfast the next morning and Hermione couldn't stop yawning, after seeing the two figures on the school grounds last night she had barely slept, she had been tossing and turning all night out of worry for what might have happened.

Seamus frowned at her, "Did you actually sleep last night or was your detention with Snape really that disturbing?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow slightly and yawned again, "It had nothing to do with the detention, I found _Snape_ quite amiable actually."

"Snape." Repeated Dean in disbelief. "You found Snape _friendly?"_

Hermione shrugged tiredly, "Well, I don't think he's quite as bad as everyone makes out."

Harry who was sitting close smirked slightly, "He insults you nearly _every_ lesson 'Mione."

"He's just misunderstood." Mumbled Hermione staring down at her food.

Seamus snorted with laughter, "And next I s'pose you're going to tell us that Malfoy's father isn't really a supporter of You Know Who?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows, _Now that you mention it… _She smiled, "No, don't worry, I won't be making claims like that in an instant."

………

Third lesson of the day was Potions and Hermione couldn't contain her curiosity, as nobody else had said anything she voiced her questioned to the substitute teacher they had, who incidentally was the Headmaster. "Where's Professor Snape?"

Dumbledore was sitting at the desk up at the front of the classroom as he replied, "Professor Snape has taken ill and unfortunately, he will not be able to teach for the next day or two."

Most of the Gryffindor students gave quiet cheers for joy while the Slytherins looked rather annoyed at this, they knew without Snape around, the Gryffindors wouldn't get nearly as many points taken off them. Hermione frowned slightly, her father was _never_ sick and even if he did come down with something during the year he still taught against Madame Pomfrey's orders.

…

Remus was teaching against his own will today, all he wanted to do was be with Severus and help him recover from his ordeal last night but Madame Pomfrey had him practically carried out of the quarters after breakfast this morning so she could heal Severus' wounds.

Severus had woken up not long after Lucius left, that had been just after midnight. The Potions master had practically begged Remus not to go for Madame Pomfrey straight away, claiming he would be all right by the morning if he just slept it off. By the next morning he could barely move because of all his aches and pains and on top of that he had a migraine as well as a few broken ribs.

………

Classes finally finished for the day and Remus wasted no time in getting back to the dungeons to be with his lover, he entered the quarters quietly and headed straight for the bedroom where he found Severus fast asleep on his stomach, half hugging a pillow.

Remus smiled slightly as he sat down on the bed next to Severus, his raven-haired lover looked more peaceful than he had in a long time. He rested his hand on Severus' bare back and rubbed it gently over a bruise there, bruises were something Madame Pomfrey couldn't get rid of, you just had to wait for time to heal them.

Severus shifted slightly at the feel of the warm hand on his aching back; he had only been dozing. "What time is it?"

Remus leaned down and pressed a kiss to Severus' head, "Classes just finished. Have you been asleep all day?" He had been asleep when Remus checked on him at lunchtime.

"Pretty much…" Severus propped his head up on his hands and rubbed his eyes. "Can you get me a pain relief potion?"

Remus continued rubbing his back gently, "Didn't Poppy give you one?"

"Wasn't strong enough." Mumbled Severus putting his head back down on his arms on the pillow.

"Okay." Remus got up and went to Severus' office and into the storeroom off to the side, he searched the shelves for a moment or two and then he grabbed three small bottles which all had _Pain Relief_ scribbled on them. He went back to the bedroom and sat back down on the bed. "I didn't know which one…"

Severus sat up, with some effort, and took the small blue bottle off Remus; he pulled out the cork and drank down the entire contents of it.

Remus raised an eyebrow, "Is that safe?"

Severus coughed and nodded, "I made it."

"That's what worries me."

Severus put the bottle on the nightstand with other two and then he settled back down on his stomach, as his back was too sore to lie on. "If it was a potion you'd made, I'd understand your concern." He muttered closing his eyes again.

Remus rolled his eyes, his potion ineptitude was quite well known, he stood up and shed his robes and shoes before kneeling back on the bed over Severus. "Want me to help make it better?" Severus just grunted in reply, he looked like he was starting to drift back to sleep.

Remus gently rubbed Severus' pale back for a moment or two longer before pressing a kiss to the dark head and leaving the bedroom. If Severus wanted to sleep some more he didn't want to bother him, that would just make the man even more unbearable than he could be when he was tired.

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A/N: I know, that took a while to get done didn't it? Sorry!! But my internet has been stuffed recently.

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Next Chapter: Christmas time. Hermione is at Hogwarts for Christmas along with the Gryffindor 6th year boys (minus Ron). The boys find out her secret, Hermione is injured and Remus' rarely mentioned brother turns up at the school by Dumbledore's request.


	6. Christmas Time Part 1

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I don't own much really.

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Fallen Angel of Hell: Glad you liked it!

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Eleonora1: Ah, you're so right about Remus being up the duff soon, great minds think alike eh? Ah ha, Lucius won't be dying anytime soon; he may be needed for more important things… As to who the other spy is, I'm not sure yet, I haven't decided but I'm not going to invent a character for that.

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Piper of Locksley: I'll update as quickly as I can!!

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Lizzie24: Yes, here I am! I don't know who's doing the reporting around here and thanks for joining my Yahoo! Group!****

Doneril: Ha ha, thanks! Don't worry, I don't like Ron either.

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MoonyPadfootJr: Glad you liked it!

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Kyie: No one made you read it.

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Sav: Don't worry! I haven't forgotten about this story, I just haven't update in a while.

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Brunette89: I'm writing as fast as I can!

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Yes, the Lupin twin theory is coming into this story, I couldn't help myself! Except there is no _good twin/evil twin,_ they're both relatively good boys, but they still don't particularly like each other.

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Chapter 6:_ Christmas Time Part 1_

It was breakfast the morning a lot of students were leaving Hogwarts to go home for the Christmas holidays, nearly every student happened to be going except for Hermione, Harry, Seamus, Dean and Neville.

Hermione had just had a note dropped into her scrambled eggs by one of the Hogwarts' owls, she grumbled as she wiped the eggs off it and unfolded it.

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See me after breakfast, you're needed.

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Dad

Hermione glanced around the Great Hall and noticed a lot of students had already left. Then she looked up to the Head Table, before getting up, completely ignoring Harry's question of _'where are you going?'_ and heading up to the staff table to stand right in front of her parents. "I'm not baby-sitting."

Remus looked up in slight surprise, he hadn't heard or seen her approach, "Please?"

Hermione frowned, "But it's the Christmas holidays and she's annoying. She'll just get in the way."

Remus sighed and leaned forward on the table, folding his arms, "Can you please just watch her for the day?"

"Why?"

"Stop questioning and do as you're told." Said Severus butting into the conversation.

Hermione scowled at them both, it was a look that she seemed to really be perfecting now. "Do you really want your baby in the company of four teenage boys?"

"I would rather neither of you were in the company of four teenage _boys."_ Replied Severus seriously.

Hermione smirked, "Well in that case, I'll take her. Where is she?"

"She's still asleep at the moment." Replied Remus, glancing in amusement at the look on Severus' face. "Come and get her in about an hour."

"Okay."

………

"How are we meant to do anything entertaining with a four year old around?" Questioned Seamus frowning at Maria.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "What _exactly_ did you have in mind?"

Dean shrugged, "Strip poker?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well Maria and I will leave, and you four can entertain yourselves with that then eh?"

Harry smirked, "No need, its no fun if the only girl is gone." Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Not that we would ever think anything of the sort about you."

"And why the hell not?" Questioned Hermione in offense.

…

Remus slipped his arms around Severus' neck and kissed him lightly on the lips, "We have a few hours alone now." He stated with a small smile. "What do you think we should do?"

Severus smirked slightly and pulled Remus flat against his body, "It seems you already have something in mind."

"Oh I do." Mumbled Remus against Severus' lips before they started kissing again.

Remus soon found himself being pushed, none too gracefully, down onto the bed minus most of his clothes.

Severus quite liked Remus' overly amorous moods right before the full moon; he would normally give into absolutely anything Severus did to him in bed. As he nipped and kissed Remus' neck and shoulders, it barely registered in his mind that they should be using contraception of some sort. After all, it was having sex directly before or after a full moon that could get a male werewolf pregnant, that's what had happened with both Hermione and Maria.

…

The five Gryffindors and Maria had decided to go down to Hagrid's Hut and visit the friendly half-giant as they hadn't really had much of a chance to chat with him all term because they had had a lot of work to do and Hagrid had been away from the school for nearly a month.

As they were wandering down the hill to Hagrid's hut, Hermione saw a brown haired man standing talking with Hagrid at the bottom of the hill. He was a slender man, he was around the same height as Remus and had the same brown hair, but it was longer and pulled back into a ponytail. She smiled when she realised who it was; she hadn't seen this man since the summer before her second year at Hogwarts.

Hagrid saw the kids coming down the hill, "Be careful yeh lot! Its really slipper-" He never finished his sentence as Hermione found out just how slippery the stone steps were.

Hermione felt one foot come out from under her as she stepped on some black ice and went tumbling ungracefully down the hill with a scream.

The boys made to go after her, but decided better of it in case they all fell down the hill as well.

Hermione finally came to a halt in Hagrid's pumpkin patch; _"Ow shit!"_ She struggled to get up and as she stood and put weight on her left foot, she cried out in pain.

The brown haired man that Hermione had been happy to see went over to her, smirking slightly. "No less clumsy than we were last time I saw you then?"

"Oh shut up." Grumbled Hermione, clenching her fists in pain. "I did something to my ankle…it really hurts."

"You all right 'Mione?" Questioned Harry as the boys and Maria got to the bottom of the slippery steps.

Hermione sniffed and shook her head as the brown haired man examined her left ankle. _"Ow!_ What the hell are you doing?"

"Checking to see if it's broken." Replied the man, he still looked amused. "Its not, but you may have a fracture." Hermione whimpered. "Come on." He scooped Hermione up into his arms.

……

It was around an hour later; Seamus, Dean and Neville had taken Maria back to Gryffindor Tower as Madame Pomfrey had kicked them out of the Infirmary. Harry was still there with Hermione and Hagrid had left feeling adamant about Hermione's injury being his fault, because he _'adn' warned 'em soon enough'._

"So um…who is that guy?" Asked Harry curiously after the brown haired man had left, after making sure Hermione was all right.

Hermione glanced at her best friend and smirked slightly, "He's my uncle." Harry raised an eyebrow. "Romulus Lupin. Dad's twin brother. I haven't seen him since before second year…I wonder what he's doing here?"

Harry shrugged, "So, what does he do?"

"He's an Auror." Replied Hermione, she thought for a moment. "Maybe he's in the Order, that might be why he's here."

Harry shrugged again, "Could be. How's your leg?"

"Painful."

……

Severus was in his classroom mixing up a _Pain Relief Potion._ Poppy had floo called him about an hour ago saying that she had run out and needed another supply quickly as she had an injured student in the Infirmary. He was tempted to say _no_ until she told him who the injured student was then he figured it would be safer for him to mix the potion than to deal with the wrath of Remus or Hermione.

After he was done, he filled a couple of flasks full of the potion and swept out of his classroom and made the journey up to the Infirmary. When he arrived at the Infirmary, his minor good mood evaporated immediately when he laid eyes on one of Hermione's visitors. _Romulus Lupin._ Yet another mortal enemy. But it wasn't just him that had something against Romulus, even Remus wasn't too fond of his own brother and no one, not even Severus, really knew why?

After passing his trademark sneer to Romulus, Severus went into Poppy Pomfrey's office and gave her the flasks of _Pain Relief Potion._ "Anything else you would like?"

Poppy raised an eyebrow, "Not at the moment, but be on your toes." She smiled as Severus scowled at her.

Severus nodded curtly and swept straight back out of the Infirmary, not even sparing a glance at his daughter whom was frowning.

Romulus raised an eyebrow, "As friendly as always, I see."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You're here, how did you expect him to react?"

Romulus shrugged, "I don't know, for some wild reason I thought he might've lightened up a little."

Harry smirked, "What did you do?"

"You know, I have no idea." Replied Romulus in slight amusement. "Attacking him for knocking my brother up might have something to do with it, mind you."

Hermione snorted, "You think?"

Poppy came out of her office with a goblet full of the _Pain Relief Potion,_ "Right Granger, drink this straight down."

Hermione did so, she pulled a look of disgust, "That is foul…"

Poppy nodded, "Yes well, your father has a habit of not making potion drinking easy. Anyway, I want you to rest that ankle for a few days and try not to walk without these crutches."

"Okay."

…

Remus raised an eyebrow at his frowning lover, "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Severus turned his eyes to Remus, "You realise your brother is in the school?"

"What?"

Severus smirked slightly, he hadn't seen Remus look that surprised in ages, "Mm, he was in the Infirmary when I took the potion up there. Getting on very well with Hermione and Harry." That was something he really didn't like, he didn't understand why his eldest daughter liked her uncle so much.

Remus raised an eyebrow, "Well, can't say I didn't expect that."

"What?" Severus furrowed his eyebrows. "Him being here or Hermione wanting him around?"

"Both."

………

It was now dinnertime at Hogwarts and as the students entered the Great Hall they found just one table in the middle of the spacious room already occupied by the Professors staying at the school for the festive season. Madame Pomfrey and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Lupin and Snape, much to their dismay, were all talking amongst themselves.

"Ah boys, do sit down." Said Dumbledore cheerfully. They all took their seats surrounding little Maria, who had been returned to her parents after her sister had had enough. "And where is Miss Granger?"

Harry grinned, "She's sulking in the Common Room cause we keep taking her crutches."

"And trying to make us do our homework." Piped in Dean.

Seamus snorted, "And she's been trying out hexes on Harry."

Harry scowled at his friend; "It's not funny. She's absolutely mental."

Remus smirked, "I grew up with three sisters, I sincerely sympathise." He knew all too well, that it was his sisters that had had the female influence over Hermione in the first place. Not to mention Minerva McGonagall, who seemed adamant about turning Hermione against her Slytherin father.

Hermione turned up for dinner about twenty minutes later looking worn out, she turned her attention straight to Dumbledore, "Can Hogwarts invest in elevators?" Walking with crutches was hard with all the flights of stairs in Hogwarts. "Please?"

Harry snorted, "What, tired of being a cripple already?"

Hermione merely raised an eyebrow, "I'm not afraid to use your Firebolt as kindling, _Potter."_

Just as Harry was about to retaliate none other than Professor Trelawney appeared in the Great Hall, "I was crystal ball gazing Headmaster and I saw that I would be eating dinner with you this evening."

Hermione snorted quietly and there were successive eye rolls from everyone else at the table, other than Dumbledore.

"Ah, do come and join us Sybill." Said Dumbledore, the same cheerfulness he reserved for everyone whether they wanted it or not. "I'll draw you up a chair." And he did just that.

Remus deliberately moved his chair closer to Severus', knowing that infernal woman had an everlasting crush on him, she had done since they were at school. He rather hoped the look of loathing on Severus' face would deter her from speaking to him, she did know of their relationship, after all.

As Trelawney sat down, Hermione counted the people at the table and smirked before clearing her throat, she was really beginning to enjoy her rebellious streak; "Thirteen of us are dining."

The boys at the table muffled their laughter, McGonagall raised an amused eyebrow at Hermione, Remus snorted and even Severus showed some signs of amusement.

Hermione had an innocent look on her face as she glanced at the horrified Trelawney, "I'm sorry, I just thought I should mention it."

"Tripe Sybill?" Offered McGonagall in amusement.

Remus was finding it very hard to not bury his face into Severus' robes and muffle his laughter, he had had a bit too much to drink before dinner and the alcohol was really catching up with him.

Severus eyed him irritably, Remus was generally quite annoying when he got drunk, though in Severus' mind, the man was a general nuisance most of the time no matter how much he really did love the werewolf. "Please refrain from getting any closer, _Lupin."_

"I will Severus," Replied Remus smiling slightly, "But I am finding it rather difficult." He knew he was pushing the right buttons to get himself hexed by his lover.

Neville, Seamus and Dean looked quite worried for Professor Lupin, knowing what Snape was like and all. Harry and Hermione on the other hand were quite amused, they both knew Remus had a habit of teasing Severus to become homicidal.

It was a little while later now and Hermione had finished her dinner, as she started to get up Trelawney gave a small gasp of shock.

Everyone looked to her, not really expecting something important to escape her mouth.

"When thirteen dine together, the first to leave is the first to die."

Hermione picked up her crutches and shrugged, "Oh well, if you hear me scream bloody murder, please drop everything and hasten to my rescue. Especially you Harry, I want to be rescued by the Boy-Who-Lived." She ruffled his hair as she passed grinning.

"You can forget about any rescue attempt from me, Hermione!" Called Harry after Hermione who was laughing.

…

The teachers were still at the table after all the students had left.

McGonagall gazed inscrutably between Remus and Severus.

Remus looked up at her, he had sobered up a little by now, "What?"

"What did you do to that girl over the summer?" Questioned Minerva curiously.

"Nothing." Replied Remus in slight offense. He glanced at Severus who was smirking slightly and then looked back to Minerva. "Nothing that I know of, anyway…" He noticed Trelawney watching him intensely so he quickly got up and picked up Maria, who was yawning. "See you later."

Severus soon followed and caught up with Remus in his quarters after the werewolf had put their daughter down to sleep.

As Remus headed into the other bedroom he felt strong arms slide around his waist, "Let me go…" It was a feeble attempt to get rid of his lover and he really didn't mind having someone hold him up. As was usual the day before the full moon, he had been overcome with a wave of fatigue and he had nearly collapsed on the way back from the Great Hall.

Severus kissed him on the neck; "Did you take your potion?"

Remus closed his eyes and leaned back into Severus' arms, "How could I not? …When you force it down my throat every month."

"I do it for your own good." Replied Severus; he gave Remus a nudge towards the bed. "You need to get some sleep."

"I know." Remus forced himself to pull away from Severus and he headed into the bathroom. "Can you check on Maria?"

Severus sighed, "Yes…" It was tiring having two werewolves to look after, especially when one of them was only four.

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To Be Continued…

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A/N: Wow, that took ages and I'm still not done.

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Next Chapter: Part 2 of the Christmas chapter. The boys find out about Severus, Remus and Hermione. Harry has a dream about Voldemort and he ends up attacking Hermione…


	7. Christmas Time Part 2

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I only Maria and Romulus...my version of him anyway.

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Talloaks: As I forgot to answer your review last chapter, I will do that here instead. I'm glad you like my characterisations, I am actually finding it a bit tough to make Hermione seem smarter and Severus nastier… Ha ha, I don't like Ron, that's why I'm making him inconsiderate and annoying. No, no, Remus was not pregnant with their third child in _Chapter 1,_ but I am foreshadowing another pregnancy now… Shouldn't have given that away, should I?

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Eleonora1: Wow, long review. I would've made last chapter longer but I was tired and I had to get up for school the next morning. Yeah, little kids are annoying, aren't they? Well…Romulus might have a go at Sev for knocking his brother up again, but really, it was Rem's fault, he was leading Severus on. Oh yes, Rom is a cool guy, he is Hermione's favourite relative other than her parents. Yeah poor Hermione being teased by her _friends._ But boys will be boys, eh? Ah yes, Severus does love Remus and the girls, whether he wants to admit it or not, he just doesn't want to show it.

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Jojo: Thank you!

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Brunette89: Glad you like them! And I strive to make my chapters better.

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Fallen Angel of Hell: Yeah, spraining your ankle hurts like hell, I don't want to know what it feels like to fracture it.

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Warning: Out of Characterness on Lucius' part.

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Now, you may ask, _why is Severus telling Hermione stuff about the Death Eaters and Voldemort?_ Well, he trusts her a great deal, possibly more than he trusts Remus.

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Werewolves in my Universe look like normal wolves, just bigger. I am going by what Hermione says in book three about werewolves and also Snape's question to the class.

Quote:

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'Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?' said Snape.

= 

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'Please, sir,' said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air, 'the werewolf differs from the true wolf in several **small **ways. The snout of the werewolf-"

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See? So, obviously a werewolf looks very similar to a true wolf, not that weird wolf-man creature they had in the third movie. I have to say, I nearly cried when I saw Remus turn into that. What an insult!

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Chapter 7:_ Christmas Time Part 2_

It was a full moon and Hermione couldn't sleep. She always got restless this time of the month, she didn't know whether it was worrying about her dad and her sister that kept her awake or whether she had contracted some of the Lycanthropy genes. Either way, she was currently limping her way along a dungeon corridor to the Potions Classroom, which was nearly always occupied on a full moon night.

Sure enough, when she got there she could see a faint light coming from under the heavy wooden door.

Hermione pushed the door open quietly and went into the dimly lit classroom; she closed the door behind her and headed quietly down the aisle between the desks. She didn't think her father, at the front of the classroom, had heard her come in.

"Should Prefects be out after curfew?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows as she sat down at one of the front desks, "Probably not, but I couldn't sleep. Anyway, it's the holidays." She watched him closely for a moment; he seemed very absorbed in to whatever it was he was reading. "What are you reading?"

"Essays if you must know." Replied Severus, not bothering to lift his eyes.

Hermione perked up; the sixth years had handed in an essay to him before Christmas break, "Have you marked the sixth year ones yet?"

"In the process."

"Have you marked mine yet?" Asked Hermione curiously, she was rather hoping he had so she could sneak a look.

Severus snorted, "Even if I had, I wouldn't let you see your grade."

Hermione pouted, but soon realised it was useless as he wasn't looking at her, "Aw come on, please?"

"No."

"Daddy…"

"The endearment will not work on me." Replied Severus picking up a quill and marking the essay he had just finished. "Nor will the puppy eyes."

Hermione sighed, she crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward, "Fine." She looked to the potion brewing next to her and looked into the cauldron. "What are you making?"

"Pain relief for the pups."

Hermione smirked at his use of the pet name they both used for Remus and Maria, mainly because it annoyed Remus and it made Maria giggle after the full moon when she was at her weakest. And making Maria happy this time of the month was no easy feat.

She sat back down and leaned back on the desk, "Can I ask you something?"

"Even if I said _no,_ it wouldn't stop you from asking, would it?" Severus still had his eyes on the essays he was hoping to finish marking before the moon set.

Hermione shook her head, "No." This was something that had been bugging her for months, but she hadn't really been alone with her dad long enough to ask. "You know that day when Dumbledore substituted for you?"

"Mm."

"You weren't sick were you?" Questioned Hermione.

Severus finally glanced up at her, "Have you ever known me to take a day off when I'm ill?" Hermione shook her head. "There's your answer."

Hermione bit her bottom lip, "The night before…while I was doing my Prefect rounds I saw Lucius dragging you back across the grounds." That finally got Severus' attention.

Severus stopped what he was doing and leaned back in his chair, he surveyed Hermione for a moment, "And why do you think that was?"

Hermione looked down at the floor in front of his desk, "Vol-the Dark Lord had called…" She had learnt the hard way about saying _Voldemort_ in front of Severus, he had nearly hexed her for it. Though she had said the name right after he had come back from a gathering with the Dark Lord. She looked back up at her dad and saw the look of utter loathing on his face at the mention of Lord Voldemort. "What happened?"

Severus sighed deeply and rested his hands in his lap, "It appears that Dumbledore has yet another spy in his midst." He replied, his eyes focused on his daughter. "My cover was blown and the Dark Lord decided to inflict as much pain as he could."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, "But…if he knew you'd betrayed him wouldn't he have just…outright killed you?"

Severus smirked humourlessly, "You would think wouldn't you?" Hermione's eyebrows raised slightly in question. "He decided it would be fun to test his new curses on me…and then he probably would have killed me."

"But you're still here."

"Well spotted." Hermione narrowed her eyes at him for that bit of sarcasm. Severus sighed, "Lucius stepped in, he promised the Dark Lord that he would finish me off at Malfoy Manor and instead, he dragged me back here. I'm sure I don't need to tell you the rest."

Hermione shook her head, she hated hearing about her parents getting hurt, especially after an incident she witnessed when she was six, of course, Severus didn't know of that. "Dad was even worse than you that day, he snapped at everyone for asking questions and he made Lavender cry, but then, that's quite easy to do."

As Severus was about to open his mouth to reply they both heard an odd snuffling noise coming from his office.

Hermione looked over to the office door and saw a white snout appear, it was sniffing something out. Following the snout were a pair of bright golden eyes and finally the entire head of a large wolf.

The wolf, or more to the point, the werewolf, nudged the door open all the way and wandered through, showing off his brilliant white body.

Hermione always went doe-eyed when she saw Moony; he was such a beautiful creature. How could anyone be afraid of that over grown puppy? Of course, the Wolfsbane Potion made him extremely docile, but it was common knowledge that werewolves never hurt their mate or their young, so both Hermione and Severus were perfectly safe around him if he hadn't had his Wolfsbane. Maria, on the other hand, was still too young to take any form of the Wolfsbane Potion, but she was only dangerous to Hermione and not her parents.

Moony snuffled again.

Hermione snorted, "Think he has a sinus problem?"

"Could do."

Moony turned his head to Severus and then he looked straight at Hermione, his golden eyes narrowed.

"What?" Hermione looked back at him innocently. "I stay up much later than this during the summer." Moony growled quietly at her. "Okay, fine, I'll go." She stood up and ignored the werewolf that was waiting expectantly. "Night dad."

"Goodnight."

Hermione turned and left the classroom, closing the door behind her so Moony couldn't try and follow if the urge came to him. She made a note to herself to finish that conversation with her father, there was something that didn't make sense to her and she wanted some answers, she _needed_ answers otherwise she wouldn't be able to let it drop.

Severus raised his eyebrows at the white werewolf as it trotted over to him and rested its head on the Potion master's lap. Severus lifted a hand and scratched the werewolf behind the ear; "Did you purposely get up just so you could break up the father/daughter bonding?" Moony gave him an innocent look and he smirked. "Go back to bed, you need your rest."

Moony gave a pitiful whimper and continued gazing up at Severus with innocent golden eyes.

"What do you want you annoying creature?"

Moony, apparently equally annoyed at Severus' lack of understanding at what he wanted, lifted his head and attached his sharp teeth to Severus' robe sleeve and tugged.

"Ah, is the bed to big for you on your own?"

Moony wagged his tail and backed away as Severus stood up.

"Well, I see I'm not going to get anymore work done tonight." Said Severus, he cast a charm on the still brewing potion to stop it from making any more progress without him and then he followed the werewolf back through his office and to their quarters.

…

Hermione yawned as she headed back into the Gryffindor Common Room, she expected it to be deserted but what she found in there were the shocked faces of three boys and Harry looking slightly bashful as he looked at her.

"What?"

"Um…" Harry hesitated. "We were looking at the Map and eh…well…" He nodded to Neville, Dean and Seamus. "…They were wondering why you went to visit Snape at this time of the night…"

"Oh no…" Groaned Hermione, she fell down into her favourite armchair beside the fire. "What did you tell them?"

"The truth…" Harry looked away bashfully.

Hermione groaned again and put her face in her hands.

………

Severus awoke a couple of hours later to a pained groan from somewhere in the vicinity of his chest. He rubbed his eyes as his tired mind tried to figure out what had just made that noise and then it clicked, he sat up and looked to where his lover was curled up under the covers in pain. As he opened his mouth to say something, a pained cry for _daddy_ sounded from the other bedroom.

Severus yawned, it was tiring having to look after two werewolves every month, but he reminded himself that he was doing it because he loved them so much. He knew Remus would be fine on his own for a while, with or without a pain cure, but Maria needed one of her parents now so he hauled himself out of bed and traipsed half dressed to Maria's room.

He went over to his little daughter, who was curled up tightly in a little ball sobbing her heart out in pain. Severus scooped her shaking body up into his arms and carried her out to the living room where he lit the fire with a quick charm and sat down in an armchair to cuddle her, like he did after every full moon.

Remus was willing to suffer a while longer to allow his daughter to be comforted, after all, he had been dealing with this since he was Maria's age, he was used to it. He turned over and curled up in the warm spot in the bed left by Severus and closed his eyes.

…

Severus had drifted off to sleep again, with Maria on his lap; it wasn't until his name was shouted through the fireplace that he woke up again. He looked blearily to the fire and saw the expectant face of Lucius Malfoy looking right back at him; he grumbled and got up, placing Maria back in the chair.

"You sure know how to pick the wrong time, don't you?" Snapped Severus as he got down on his knees in front of the fire.

Lucius raised an eyebrow, "Well, you're awake aren't you?"

Severus frowned and gazed at his old friend curiously, "What happened to you?"

Lucius snorted derisively, "The Dark Lord happened… Look, I'm coming to speak with Dumbledore later today and I think you would benefit from hearing what I have to say."

Severus furrowed his eyebrows, "Why don't you just tell me now?"

"Not through floo." Replied Lucius shaking his head. "Remus may want to hear what I have to report as well, if he's up to it, that is." Severus was still watching him curiously. "Just…keep a close eye on Hermione, all right?"

Severus felt his heart sink, so Voldemort _was_ going to be coming after his daughter, most likely because of her friendship with Harry. He nodded, "All right, when will you be here?"

Lucius looked down, he must have been checking his watch, "After lunch, Hogwarts time."

Severus nodded again, "Very well. Is there anything else?"

"I've already spoken with Dumbledore, briefly, he may want Hermione to attend as well, as this concerns her."

After Lucius had cut the connection, Severus went back to Maria who was still fast asleep, the transformation and her crying was very exhausting to the little girl. He carefully picked her up and took her back to the room he shared with Remus, she didn't like being alone when she woke up after a transformation.

Remus opened his eyes when Severus entered the room with Maria, "Who were you talking to?"

Severus huffed quietly as he placed Maria in the bed, "Lucius." He sat down on the bed next to Remus and ran his fingers through tired lover's hair. "How are you feeling?"

Remus stifled a yawn, "Okay, I guess…" He yawned again. "Just tired and achy."

Severus gazed at his lover in concern; "Do you want some pain relief?"

"Yeah, please…"

Severus kissed him lightly on the lips before getting up, pulling on a warm robe and heading out to his classroom.

………

Hermione had gotten a note from Dumbledore requesting her presence in his office after lunch that day; she gazed at it curiously for a while. Why on Earth did Dumbledore want to speak with her? Had something happened to her parents?

"Why does he want to speak with you?" Asked a voice from just over her shoulder.

Hermione glanced at Harry and shrugged, "Don't know…maybe he knows the other three know… I'm really not sure."

"We're going to have a snowball fight, you want to come?" Asked Harry as he moved from behind her.

"Eh, no…" Hermione shook her head. "I might go back to the dungeon."

"Okay, see you later."

"See ya boys."

After the initial shock of whom Hermione's parents were, the other three boys had started to come around to the idea. And after breakfast they had had fun trying to compare Hermione's attitude to Severus', which turned out to be quite easy much to the brunette's dismay.

After they had gone, Hermione decided to head to the library instead of the dungeons. She could always find a peace of mind in there; it was like a second home to her, more so than the rest of Hogwarts.

She settled herself down with a couple of Arithmancy and Potions journals and started reading, ignoring the footsteps coming closer until someone's lifted up the front of the journal she was reading to see the title.

"Hm, interesting. Didn't think Arithmancy was your thing."

Hermione smirked, "Well, you haven't seen me since I was eleven, a lot's changed." She looked up at her uncle.

"I don't doubt that. After all, you were nice the last time I saw you." Replied Romulus as he sat down opposite her at the table. "I've heard the stories."

Hermione grinned, "I'm having a rebellious streak…can't help it if that involves violence."

Romulus smirked, "Fair enough."

"Can I ask you something?" Romulus nodded. "Why are you here?"

Romulus raised his eyebrows and had a mock hurt look on his face, "You don't want me here?" Hermione gave him a look. "All right, fine… I'm here because Dumbledore wants to start up a Duelling Club."

"Another?"

"Yeah, though I heard Lockhart's wasn't too successful."

Romulus grinned. "Anyway, he thought it would be a good idea considering Voldemort's return. I think he was also hoping it may help prepare certain students before they try anymore rescue attempts or mystery solving." He gazed at her pointedly.

Hermione blushed slightly and looked down, "Yeah well…the last time we tried to do something helpful, it resulted in Sirius' death…"

Romulus considered his niece for a moment; "You liked him a lot, didn't you?"

Hermione looked back up at him and smiled a little, "Yeah… I got to know him quite well when Dumbledore sent him to our house after rounding up the…" She trailed off uncertainly.

Romulus seemed to know her train of thought; "I'm in the Order. I just haven't attended many meetings at the Headquarters."

"Oh…" Hermione nodded slowly. "Anyway, while he was at our house I spent ages talking with him…late at night, cause we were both insomniacs. …So, this Duelling Club, are you going to have an _assistant_ like Lockhart did?"

Romulus smirked, "Well, maybe, but perhaps not Lockhart's choice in assistants. I'd rather not be on the receiving end of Severus' wrath…I know he'd enjoy it."

Hermione giggled, "Who else would you pick then?"

Romulus feigned thought, "Well, I'm sure my brother would like to have a chance to attack me as well…so perhaps not him either."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "What happened between you two?"

Romulus sobered up a little, "…When I was first training as an Auror, in about my second year, I had to help bring in Death Eaters… Severus happened to be the one I captured."

"Oh…"

Romulus continued, "I was trying to get ahead in my training and because of that, Rem never forgave me."

"What did you do?"

"I tried to have your father thrown in Azkaban." Replied Romulus; a flash of guilt crossed his face. "I nearly succeeded until Dumbledore stepped in. Of course, there is something else as well…but I don't plan on letting you in on that."

Hermione raised her eyebrows slightly, "Ok then. I won't press for an answer."

……

Lunch was over; Dumbledore had already left the Great Hall, followed closely by Severus so Hermione decided it was her time to go to the Headmaster's office as well.

On her way there she met up with her Godfather, much to her surprise, "Are you going to see Dumbledore too?"

Lucius nodded, "Yes, its because of me that he has called this meeting."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, "Then why does he want me there?"

"You'll find out when we get there." Replied Lucius shortly; he glanced at her curiously, "What happened to you?"

"I fell down a hill and fractured my ankle." Replied Hermione; she narrowed her eyes at the blond man. "It is _not_ funny."

"I'm not laughing." But there was a definite tone of amusement in the blond's voice.

…

"Ah Lucius, Hermione, do sit down." Said Dumbledore as the two entered his office.

Hermione glanced at the other occupant in the room, her father, then to Lucius and finally Dumbledore. _What the hell is going on?_ She sat down and obviously the curiosity and worry was evident on her face judging by Dumbledore's amused expression.

"Not to worry my dear, you are not in trouble." Said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. He turned his attention towards Lucius. "I trust you have some information involving Hermione."

Hermione's eyes widened in alarm, she looked quickly between the three men in the room and then she rested her eyes on Lucius as he started to speak.

"As you know, the Dark Lord is trying every possible means to get to Potter." Started Lucius, of course Severus and Albus knew that, but Hermione didn't. Though he was sure she could have probably guessed. "And at last night's meeting he expressed an interest in using Hermione as a pawn. He also thought it would be fun to give me the task of kidnapping her and taking her to him."

Hermione had gone deathly pale in horror; this was not the kind of thing she wanted to hear before Christmas. Voldemort wanted to use her to get at Harry? She could hardly say she didn't expect that, but now she had heard it from the mouth of a Death Eater, it was hard not to be worried.

Dumbledore nodded, "Very well. Was anything else said on the matter?"

Lucius shook his head, "Not really. Just that the _Imperius Curse_ would be involved and that I'd be murdered if I didn't succeed."

Severus was the next person to speak; "Do you have a plan of action, Dumbledore?" He took Hermione's hand in his; he could tell just how much this was scaring her.

Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Not as such. But we cannot afford to have Hermione in Lord Voldemort's grasp, nor can we afford to have you, Lucius, killed." He turned his eyes back to Hermione. "First thing's first, do you know if Harry has been practising his Occlumency?"

Hermione bit her bottom lip and shook her head, "He hasn't…" She replied in a small voice. "He says he has when I ask, but I know he hasn't…"

………

Hermione limped back to Gryffindor Tower after the meeting feeling very deflated and scared, Dumbledore didn't have a plan yet so absolutely anything could happen between now and when he got one. So, all she could really do was sit back and wait for something to happen, whether that thing was going to be good or bad, she didn't know.

All she really knew was that being friends with Harry had put her in danger, as it had done the last five years of being at school with him. She also knew that Severus and Lucius were both extremely worried, judging by their sighs of despair after they left Dumbledore's office.

She managed to calm herself a little by knowing that very soon they would be learning all about the _Unforgivable Curses_ in Defense Against the Dark Arts again. Perhaps it would give her more of a chance to learn how to fight the _Imperius Curse,_ just in case. After all, Lucius did say that would be used if she came to be in Voldemort's clutches.

………

The rest of the holiday didn't go too well at all.

The day after speaking with Severus, Lucius and Dumbledore, Hermione noticed Harry acting very strangely around her; he had stopped letting her know when his scar hurt; though she could tell it was sometimes. She noticed that he was beginning to watch her suspiciously and she couldn't help but wonder whether Voldemort had sent messages to his subconscious mind or something, like he had done in the past.

Hermione lay awake the night before everyone else arrived back at school thinking. Oh this year was not going at all to plan…

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A/N: Yes I know, there was a serious lack of Harry attacking Hermione, but I've decided to let the tension build up a little but before anything else happened. So, sorry if you were hoping to see that. But on the plus side, it was a much longer chapter, nearly seventeen pages in Word.

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Next Chapter: Ron corners Hermione, is for a verbal attack or to apologise? Harry gets increasingly more edgy around Hermione. Remus has a little surprise for his lover, but is it welcomed?


	8. Christmas Break Mistake

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I only own Maria and a couple of other things that may crop up at some point.

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Brunette89: He he, yey! I'm awesome! Thanks.

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Eleonora1: Ok so yeah, it was bad wording on my part. So Sev doesn't _trust_ her more than Remus, he just feels he can _tell_ her more than he can tell Remus. For reasons like you said, to protect our poor werewolf. Ah of course Hermione's puppy eyes work on Sev, he was just saying that so he didn't have to look up and see them. I love making Remus a white wolf, I don't know why? Maybe it has something to do with the poster of a white wolf that I have on the wall next to my computer. There is a serious lack of Maria isn't there? I'll put more of her in. Yes, the library is Hermione's second home, but I would spend hours in that library to if I were her. And finally, yes, there is a reason for the bit of animosity between Remus and Romulus, I just haven't figured that reason out yet.

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AffectedMangoO: He he, glad you like my Sev and Rem! Don't ya just love them? More about Romulus will be coming very soon.

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Chapter 8:_ Christmas Break Mistake_

Remus was sitting at the table in the staff room with his head in his hands, he was so tired and his head was pounding, he had taken a potion for it and he still felt awful. The full moon wasn't for another week, he shouldn't feel this bad. He was trying to mark his third years' essays but the words on the parchment kept blurring together, either it was the headache or his eyesight was taking a rapid decline.

He had a free period and he was trying to catch up with his marking, he had been getting so behind since the new term started and it was all because of the lack of sleep he was getting. Of course, Severus hadn't noticed, the man slept like a log in the winter.

"Are you all right, Remus?" Asked Minerva McGonagall from her chair near the fire.

"Depends," replied Remus, "What's your definition of _all right?"_

Minerva smirked slightly, "I see Severus' demeanour is finally starting to rub off on you."

Remus lifted his head a little and smiled wryly, "Well when you live with him, its hard not to get like that."

"I don't doubt that."

…

"Weasley, what is this?" Questioned Severus as he prowled the desks in his classroom during the lesson before lunch. He had the sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins, his least favourite class, mainly due to six students, Neville, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Pansy Parkinson.

"A _Healing Solution."_ Replied Ron defiantly.

Severus smirked slightly, "And tell me, what colour is it supposed to be?"

"Red."

"And what colour is _your_ solution, Mr Weasley?"

"…Orange…" Replied Ron hesitantly.

"Tell me, are you incapable of following simple instructions or do you make a point of blatantly ignoring them?" Severus raised his eyebrows slightly; a sneer firmly set in place.

Hermione frowned slightly, then she decided to speak up, which wasn't the best idea. "I can help him correct it, Professor."

Severus turned his eyes to her; "Did I ask for your input, Miss Granger?"

"No, Sir."

"Then kindly keep your mouth shut and get back to work." Snapped Severus before moving away.

The Slytherins were throwing amused glances at Ron and Hermione.

Hermione, all the while, was giving her father the nastiest glare she could muster and she was well aware that he had noticed.

"Thanks." Whispered Ron from next to her.

Hermione turned her eyes to him and gave a small smile, "No problem."

"Ten points from Gryffindor for ignoring an order, Miss Granger."

__

Bastard! Shouted Hermione in her mind. _Does he realise how much of a bastard he comes off as? God I hate him sometimes! I don't care if he's my father; he can be so nasty sometimes! God I hope he's doing his little Legilimancy trick right now so he can hear what I want to say to him…_

By the time Hermione had finished ranting about her father in her mind, class was over. She quickly filled up a flask with her potion, labelled it, put it on his desk and cleaned up all her equipment so she could get out of that classroom. She usually enjoyed Potions, she usually enjoyed all of her subjects but she felt they were all nothing but a waste of time at the moment.

She followed everyone else to the Great Hall for lunch, hearing a few comments on her way.

"What's the matter, losing your touch, Mudblood?" Sneered Pansy Parkinson as her and her Slytherin friends caught up. "

Hermione stopped and turned to face the Slytherin girl, "For your information _Parkinson,_ I am not losing my touch, _nor_ am I a Muggleborn. If you want to know anymore than that, go and talk to your _dear _Head of House, I am sure _he_ could tell you the details of my conception, my birth and my life." She turned on her heel and continued on her way to the Great Hall, muttering as she went. _"Stupid bitch…"_

………

After lessons that day, Hermione went and hid in the very back of the library, hoping beyond hope that no one would find her there especially now that she had pretty much given away her secret. If that got back to her parents she knew they'd come hunting her down.

With her head buried in a book, Hermione didn't notice the red headed teenager come over to her table.

"Hermione."

Hermione slowly lifted her head to see Ron standing near her, "Ron." _Oh god…what does he want?_ "If you're here to insult me…then please don't bother." 

Ron pulled a chair out and sat down, "I'm not here to insult you… I-I'm here because I feel guilty and I want to apologise…"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, "Apologise?"

Ron nodded, he hesitated, this was obviously hard for him, "…I'm sorry…f-for the way I've been treating you. I don't have any excuse and I don't know why I did it…" Hermione raised her other eyebrow as well. "I guess…I don't like Snape, I really don't and I'm sorry, but it's the way I feel… And being your friend in the summer would mean seeing more of him, wouldn't it?"

Hermione snorted, "Ron…I don't like my dad at the best of times, like today, I really want to inflict pain upon him…or the Slytherins. But anyway, I mean…I know you don't like him and I understand why? But…throwing away a friendship over that?" Ron looked down at the table guiltily. "Look, I'm willing to forgive you," Ron looked back up expectantly. "If you hug me."

Ron scowled at her, "Do I have to?"

Hermione smiled and nodded, "Yes, please. I need a hug, I've had such a bad time the last month."

"All right!" Ron held out his arms. "And we're friends again?"

"Yes." Hermione hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek. "No more stupid fights, ok?"

"Ok." Ron realised he was still hugging Hermione, but he didn't really want to let go. He had had a crush on her for the longest time.

"If those hands move any lower Weasley, I'll be chopping them off."

The two teenagers pulled apart abruptly and looked to see Romulus Lupin leaning against a bookcase with his eyebrows raised slightly.

Hermione scowled at him, "And how are you today, Professor?"

"Don't call me _Professor."_ Said Romulus shaking his head, "Makes me feel old." He looked to Ron. "And I meant what I said about your hands."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Go away." Her uncle was more concerned about teenager boys touching her than her parents were. "We were talking."

"Is that what they call it now?" Questioned Romulus in amusement.

Hermione picked a bottle of ink and got ready to throw it at him.

"OK, ok… I'm going. See you later, you two." And he left.

Hermione put the inkbottle back down, "Sorry about him…"

Ron smirked, "Doesn't matter, I'd be like that if I saw a guy touching Ginny. So, he's your uncle right?"

"Yeah…did Harry tell you?" She asked tentatively. Harry had barely spoken to her since Christmas and she was almost certain she knew why now.

Ron nodded, "What happened between you and Harry?"

Hermione sighed and frowned, "I'm not quite sure, I have a hunch though…but I don't know if I can tell you or not. I should ask first."

"Fair enough." Ron thought for a moment. "So eh…what did you say to Parkinson to get her talking about you?"

Hermione bit her bottom lip, "I said _I am not a Muggleborn_ and that she should speak to her _Head of House about it as he knows all the details…_ I know, it was stupid but everyone was bound to find out sooner or later."

………

By dinnertime Hermione was absolutely sure her parents knew what she had said to Pansy Parkinson. And when she left the Great Hall she was headed off by Severus who ordered her down to his quarters.

"I know what you're going to say and I don't care." Said Hermione once she was alone with both of her parents.

Remus sat down in the armchair opposite her, "Why did you say it?"

Hermione shrugged, "Does it really matter? Voldemort wants me in his clutches anyway, that's why you were keeping it a secret in the first place." She could practically hear Severus grinding his teeth at her casual use of the Dark Lord's name. "Anyway, I'd like to see what new insult that stupid cow Parkinson comes up with for tomorrow now that she knows _Mudblood_ doesn't apply to me."

Remus sighed; he couldn't really punish his daughter for sticking up for herself though he was sure Severus wanted to. "Did you have to say it to the children of Death Eaters though?"

Hermione glanced at Severus who was wisely keeping his mouth shut and then she looked back to Remus, "Well, they were the ones trying to pick a fight, so yeah…" she huffed and spoke more bitterly. "Not like their _Head of House_ was doing anything about it."

Severus opened his mouth to snap at her but Remus gave him a warning look, so he held his tongue.

"What has gotten into you lately?" Questioned Remus, "You never used to be like this."

Hermione shrugged again, "I'm growing up, maybe its permanent _PMS…_that and I'm sick of everything going wrong. My friends abandoning me for instance…" She sniffed. _Oh god, don't cry Hermione, you idiot._ "Can't I just have a normal life for once?"

Severus thought this was as good a time as any to leave, so he did. He was not very good with crying teenage girls, never had been and probably never will be.

Remus got up and sat down on the coffee table in front of Hermione, he could tell she was trying not to cry. "Mione, you can tell me, you know?"

Hermione wiped her eyes on her sleeve and sniffled, "Harry's been going out of his way to avoid me ever since Christmas…and I'm sure I know why."

"Why?"

"Hasn't been doing his Occlumency has he?" Replied Hermione sniffling again. "Voldemort probably let him see that he'd be using me as a pawn."

Remus raised an eyebrow, "I doubt it, somehow." Hermione glanced back up at him in confusion. "Look, Voldemort's plan wouldn't work if he did that, would it? If Harry doesn't trust you then he's not going to allow himself to be alone with you, is he?"

Hermione nodded meekly, "I guess so…then why is he avoiding me? What did I do?"

"I don't know."

Hermione folded her arms and tried to blink the tears away, "I just want to hide until all this is over…"

Remus smirked slightly, "Me too kid, me too."

Hermione smiled weakly and sniffled, "Why does dad have to be such a bastard all the time? Can't he just lighten up for once?"

Remus moved onto the couch, rubbing his abdomen gently, "Its just the way he is, you know that. Nothing is going to change his personality, god knows, I've tried."

Hermione pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them, "I'm sorry I said what I did to Pansy, but someone has to put that cow in her place…she can't keep going around like she owns the place, no one likes her anyway."

Remus nodded in agreement, "I agree, most of the staff don't like her either." He still had one hand firmly on his stomach and he saw that Hermione had noticed this odd behaviour now.

Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her dad, "Tell me you're not…"

Remus shook his head, "I am…" he nodded in the direction of Severus' office, "He doesn't know yet." Hermione smiled. "You know, you're getting more like him everyday. It's worrying."

Hermione glared at her dad, "I don't know whether I should be insulted or complimented."

Remus smirked, "I know you don't want to hear it, but its true. Though you haven't quite mastered the sneering yet…"

………

Remus sat in the armchair by the fire as Severus came back into the quarters, "Thanks for helping to calm our daughter down."

"You're welcome." Replied Severus with as much sarcasm in his tone as Remus had.

Remus watched his lover move around the room for a moment, "You know, it wouldn't do you any harm to be nicer to the Gryffindors on occasion."

Severus snorted quietly as he sat down at the table with a pile of essays to mark, "And why would I want to do that?" He dipped his quill into the ink and started putting critical notes on the first essay.

Remus sighed, "It might give your daughter a reason to respect you again." Severus scowled at him. _"You _are part of the reason why she is having such a horrible time at the moment, you know that? Now I'm just repeating what Hermione said, so don't have a go at me." He stood up and stretched. "Now if you don't mind, I am going to bed. Goodnight."

Severus watched Remus disappear into their bedroom in slight confusion before turning back to his marking. Remus had been acting mighty odd since the Christmas break and Severus was pretty sure he knew why, but he was just waiting for his lover to say something about it.

And the next night, he got what he was waiting for.

………

It was late the next night when Remus got back to the rooms he shared with Severus and Maria; he headed straight to the bedroom and saw that Severus was in the ensuite bathroom. He went to the doorway of the bathroom so that Severus could see him in the mirror. "We need to talk."

"About?" Replied Severus after spitting out the toothpaste in his mouth. The man was really very hygienic despite his appearance and his hair only looked greasy and lank because he was standing over boiling cauldrons everyday.

Remus hesitated, "…Children."

Severus raised his eyebrows slightly, "Oh?"

Remus sighed and sat down on the end of the bed, "Stop humouring me. I know you suspect something so say what you're thinking."

Severus folded his arms and leaned against the bathroom doorframe in nothing but a pair of black pants. "Ok then. I think we made a careless mistake during the Christmas break without really talking about what the consequences could mean. And now that we are in the middle of another war, any number of things could happen because of _this."_ He indicated to Remus' stomach.

Remus sighed and nodded, "Yeah, I didn't think you'd be too pleased." He folded his arms over his stomach and looked down at the floor. "I'm not getting rid of it…"

"No one said you had to."

Remus looked back up to his lover, Severus had an unreadable expression on his face but it was pretty obvious that he wasn't too happy about this. "What now? …Do you want this?" he was afraid of what the answer would be. If Severus didn't want this baby would he let Remus stay with him?

Severus sighed, he went over to the bed and sat down next to Remus he had averted his eyes again, "You know how to pick the worst of times, don't you?"

Remus glared at his lover, "I didn't ask for this."

"I know, I know." Said Severus quickly before Remus felt the need to inflict physical pain upon him. "I'm just saying, I would be more happy about this if it happened after…after the Dark Lord is dead."

"Well it's happened now." Remus looked away from his lover again and spoke quietly. "I just need to know if you'll be here for me or not."

Severus turned Remus' head so he could see his lover's eyes, "I will be here, I was when you were carrying Hermione and I will be now."

Remus just fell into Severus' arms and squeezed his eyes shut.

It hadn't been easy being pregnant during the First War against Voldemort, with all the worry about what Severus had been doing Remus had nearly miscarried Hermione. The werewolf was just hoping he wouldn't miscarry this baby, it had been a terrifying thought the first time around.

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A/N: And yes, a pregnant werewolf will not transform for the duration of the pregnancy.

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Next Chapter: Oh god…what do you guys want to see? More of Romulus? More Sev and Rem loving? You name it and I'll see what I can do.

You know, I know what's going to happen later on in the story, I'm just stuck for ideas for the current chapters.


	9. Unwarrented Attack

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I own Maria and Romulus.

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AffectedMangoO: Righto, more Rem/Sev indeed!

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NativeMoon: Ooh, my first recommendation! Thank you! Ha ha, I'm glad you can tolerate Hermione, I'm trying to give her another side, I never used to like her either. I'm glad you like my story!

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Danielle: Thanks for reviewing! And I'm glad you love it so much!

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Jill Baske: Thank you for those suggestions! I do plan on going a bit more in depth about the relationship between Remus and Romulus and why Rem isn't that fond of his brother.

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Kathleen: I'll see what I can do about the Sev/Rem loving!

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Talloaks: I'm glad you like the way I've written Hermione's changing attitude. You're right, Sev is a loveable hard arse, he may show more emotion in this chapter. As for Pansy, well, I would choose much harsher words to call her than _creep,_ and you might to after this chapter **:-D**

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Fallen Angel of Hell: More Romulus? Can do! Yeah another Lupin-Snape to be brought into this hellish world, lovely eh? **:-P**

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Furies: Thank you!

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Bakachan17: Glad you like it!

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I've only just realised that I haven't written anything into this story about Hermione and Ginny being friends.

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Warning: _Gryffindor Abuse ahoy!_

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On another note, I will be changing my penname to _Prof. K Malfoy._ So if you search for _LuciusJames Lover_ and you can't find me, that will be why.

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Chapter 9:_ Unwarranted Attack_

Hermione gave another big yawn in History of Magic on Thursday afternoon; she had only just realised, after five and a half years of this subject, just how boring it really is. She still managed to fill several bits of parchment full of notes but nothing was really sinking into her brain like it used to.

Ever since he had started speaking to her again, Ron had noticed that Hermione's old enthusiastic attentiveness was severely lacking now. He had also noticed that the only subject she was really paying full attention to was Defense Against the Dark Arts in which they were learning all the ins and outs of the _Unforgivable Curses_ and going far more in depth than Moody ever took them.

Ron scribbled a note down on his own still very blank piece of parchment and put it in front of Hermione.

Hermione turned her groggy attention to Ron's note and smirked.

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Binns is the kind of teacher you want to kill, but then you realise just how difficult that would be.

She scribbled her reply down and passed the parchment back to him.

How about an exorcism?

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Hey yeah! You think your dad will teach us that in DADA?

Doubt it, Binns was alive when he was at school and apparently far less boring.

I find that hard to believe.

Me too.

Hermione stifled another yawn and took a few more notes on the _Manticore Massacre of 1573._ From what she could gather, a whole village of muggles and a few wizards and witches had been brutally murdered by a Manticore in the space of one night, and that that Manticore had never been found.

……

Finally the last lesson of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts, was over. Though Hermione did still enjoy that class, she wasn't too fond of the tone of her dad's voice when he asked her to stay behind.

"Close the door behind you Ron, thanks." Called Remus after the red head.

After Ron had closed the door Hermione spoke, "Am I in trouble?"

Remus shook his head, "Why do you ask? What have you done?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing…"

Remus pointed at a chair, "Sit down."

Hermione sat down obediently and raised her eyebrows at her dad, as he sat behind his desk, "If I'm not in trouble, then what's this about?"

"Voldemort." Replied Remus simply. Hermione gazed at him inquiringly. "Dumbledore has decided that it would be best if you were given practice to fight the _Imperius Curse_ and he also thinks you would benefit from learning Occlumency."

"And who's going to teach me?"

"Lucius has agreed to help you practice with the Curse." Said Remus; he smirked a little upon seeing Hermione's horrified look. "Yes, it does mean he'll be casting it on you."

"Yeah I was afraid of that…"

"He won't hurt you, you know that."

Hermione shrugged, "I know, but still…I'd rather not have to be on the receiving end of anything he casts with that wand."

Remus shook his head, "Me neither, but it has to happen."

"And dad will teach me Occlumency?"

"Yes he will." Confirmed Remus, "Providing you stop getting on his nerves."

"If he stopped being so mean then I wouldn't grate on his nerves so much." Hermione folded her arms. "And anyway, if he teaches me the Occlumency he might see memories I don't want him to see…" she gave Remus a pointed look, she knew that he knew what she was talking about.

Remus sighed, "Look, if it comes to that then you're going to have to tell him what you saw that night. There's no way around it… Though, if it does come to that it would be great if you could leave out the bit about Lucius and I knowing."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You're not scared of him are you?"

"Of course I'm not scared of him." Replied Remus frowning slightly. "I'd just rather not have to deal with his temper while I'm pregnant, that's all."

"OK, ok. Is that all?"

"Eh yeah, oh and arrange a time for your Occlumency." Said Remus as he started sifting through a pile of essays. "Lucius will get in touch about the _Imperius_ lessons."

"Righto." Hermione got up and picked her bag up. "Lucky me…on the receiving end of _two_ Death Eaters' wands…can't believe Dumbledore suggested this…"

Remus smirked at her as she headed for the door, "No need to be cynical."

"Oh you'd be cynical if you were in my place." Replied Hermione as she opened the door.

"If I were in your place, you'd have two monthly problems."

Hermione huffed and left the classroom.

"Took you long enough."

Hermione jumped, she didn't realise there was anyone in the corridor with her, she spun around and saw Draco Malfoy leaning against the wall outside the classroom, "What do you want?"

Draco frowned a little, "Come with me."

Hermione sighed and followed him into an empty classroom further along the corridor, "What is it?

Draco gave her a worried look; "The other Slytherins are planning to…attack you…"

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, "Why?"

Draco sighed and sat on a desk, "I'm not sure exactly…but it has something to do with what you said to Pansy that day…"

Hermione thought for a moment, "What did I say to make her want to attack me?"

"Well, not only do they think you were lying about the mudblood thing, they also think you were insulting us Slytherins and our Head of House." Replied Draco seriously.

Hermione leaned against another desk and folded her arms, "I was insulting your Head of House…but everyone does that."

Draco shrugged, "Look, I don't know the full details because I chose not to be a part of it, which has probably turned me into the black sheep of the House… Anyway, I just thought I should tell you, so you know to be careful…and wary."

Hermione smiled slightly, "Thanks…"

"No problem."

"They won't hurt you, will they? If they know you've been talking to me…" Said Hermione worriedly. She didn't really want Draco to suffer because of her.

Draco gave her a smug smirk, "The worst they'll do is ignore me, if they hurt me they know they'd have my father to answer to, and you know as well as I do that that is almost a fate worse than death."

Hermione bit her bottom lip and nodded. Her and Draco had been on the receiving end of Lucius' temper before, especially when they were younger and wreaking havoc on Malfoy Manor. "Good point."

……

After he little chat with Draco, Hermione headed down to the dungeons to arrange a time for the Occlumency lessons. She quietly opened the Potions classroom door and peered in, her dad wasn't in the classroom so she headed to his office and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

"How very pompous of you." Said Hermione after she entered. Severus gave her a nasty look and she held her hands up in defeat. "Sorry…"

"I have a lot of work to do, Hermione, so there better be a good reason as to why you are interrupting me." Said Severus he sifted through a heap of parchment on his desk, his eyebrows drawn together in concentration.

"Occlumency." Replied Hermione simply.

Severus nodded, he didn't look at her as he spoke, "I want you here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night at eight o clock sharp."

Hermione sighed, that gave her less time to do her homework and study for the exams coming up in a few months time, "In your office?"

"Yes."

"Ok then. See you tomorrow." Hermione headed back to the door; she hesitated when she got there.

Severus glanced up at her when he sensed she hadn't left yet, "Anything else?"

Hermione continued hesitating for a moment or two longer before turning back to her father, "…Just…how insulted would a Slytherin have to be to want to inflict physical pain up on you?"

Severus arched an eyebrow slightly; "The mere fact that you are a Gryffindor would make them want to inflict physical pain up on _you…_ Why do you ask?"

Hermione mouthed silently for a moment, "Well…Draco told me after Defense today that…that they were planning to attack for what I said to Pansy…"

Severus nodded his head slowly, a faint frown on his face, "I shouldn't worry about it."

"Why not?" Squeaked Hermione, her voice was croaky from the cough she had gotten from her cold. "There's nothing stopping them from harming me."

Severus sighed, "Hermione, you are perfectly capable of attacking teachers, what makes a student your age any different?"

Hermione folded her arms, "Yeah but I wasn't scared of you and Umbridge…and technically, I didn't actually attack her."

"Nothing is going to happen." Said Severus slowly so she would get it into her head. "They won't hurt you."

"Fine…" Hermione shouldered her heavy bag once more. "Bye."

"Goodbye."

Hermione left her father's office and finally headed back to Gryffindor Common Room where she dropped her bag and collapsed on the couch next to Ginny and rested her head on her best female friend's shoulder.

Ginny smirked, "Hard day 'Mione?"

Hermione leaned forward and started pulling her homework out of her bag, "No not all…" she replied sarcastically, "Man I can't wait until the weekend."

"I still can't get used to your new attitude." Commented Ginny as she turned back to her magazine. "Although, it is a welcome change from forcing all your friends to do their homework."

Hermione smiled slightly, "That's not what my parents think." She said quietly. "They prefer the old me."

"The _old you _was more rule abiding. _Now_ you go around and do as you please." Replied Ginny; "I'm surprised you haven't lost your Prefect badge yet."

Hermione smirked, "Me too, to be honest."

"Its good that you still have _me_ to keep you in order, Miss Granger." Said Ginny smiling happily, she tapped her own Prefect badge importantly and managed to do a good impression of Percy while she was at it.

……

It was getting late when Remus finally made his way down to the dungeons, he went into the Potions classroom and saw his lover making a potion, concentration written all over his pale features.

Severus, sensing Remus was about to speak and break his concentration, held up a hand, "Wait a minute."

Remus closed his mouth, as he had been about to ask what Severus had been slaving over recently. He had actually been working on a potion for the Order for the last three months, yet Remus still had no idea what it was for. Instead, he moved closer to the desk Severus was working at and peered curiously at the ingredients lay out before his lover. He didn't want to know what some of them were, but others he could recognise even despite his self-confessed ineptness at Potions.

Finally though, Severus pulled his concentration away from the potion and rubbed his eyes, he then looked to Remus, who was watching him curiously, "What?" That man had been grating on his nerves even more than usual lately, he figured it was probably because his lover was pregnant.

Remus shrugged slightly, "Nothing, I'm just wondering what exactly it is that Dumbledore has you making, as its taking up nearly all of your spare time."

Severus leaned against the desk and tried to get the crick out of his neck, "I am not liberty to say, as I promised Dumbledore I wouldn't tell _you_ especially." He saw Remus frown. "It will benefit you, don't worry. But I'm not making this potion under my own free will, I'd rather not have to see what its final result brings."

Remus pulled a face of confusion and just shook his head, "Whatever…I'm going to bed."

Severus smirked a little, "Thinking too much?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there soon." Called Severus after his confused and pregnant lover.

Remus huffed, "I'm not exactly in a _rush_ to sleep with you again, you know?"

"I know."

………

It was early Friday evening and Ron and Ginny hadn't seen Hermione since classes had finished. They had checked the library and the Prefects' bathroom, they had asked both Professor Lupins if they had seen her, they had nearly gone to ask Professor Snape if he had seen her but decided against it as he had been in an extremely foul mood today.

And they still couldn't find her; she just seemed to have disappeared so the two Weasleys went looking all over the school for her. She had told them about her warning of the Slytherins' plans, that's why they were so worried.

Ginny was just ahead of Ron as they walked to the next staircase, "I just don't get it…where could she have-_Oh my god!"_

Ron rushed to her side and his eyes widened up on seeing what his younger sister had seen, "Oh no…Hermione…"

…

Romulus had been in the Infirmary when Ron and Ginny came rushing in with Hermione's limp, unconscious body. He was now running to Dumbledore's office where he knew Severus and Remus would be, discussing a few things about the Order.

After hurriedly speaking the password to the Gargoyle, Romulus charged up the stairs and hammered on the door.

"Come in." Came the surprised voice of Albus Dumbledore.

Romulus entered the office panting for breath; "Hermione was attacked…"

That was all he had to say to get the occupants of the room running, he was still shocked about seeing his niece like that, that he didn't even bother to question why Lucius Malfoy had been in Dumbledore's office as well.

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A/N: Muahahahahahaha! I was actually going to write Hermione's attack but I think I'll leave that particular bit for you to find out next chapter.

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Next Chapter: Hermione wakes up after two weeks with someone _very_ unexpected at her bedside. We find out just what led to her unconscious state and more details on the potion Severus is brewing.


	10. Awakening

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I own Romulus and Maria.

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Cutieak88: Thanks for reviewing!

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Katie: Ah constructive criticism, always good as long as it isn't rude, and yours wasn't. First of all, I'm glad you like the story! Anyways, I know Maria is hardly ever mentioned, I'm trying to put her in more but five year olds aren't that exciting. As for Sev, he does love Remus but he doesn't like to let his guard down often. And Hermione, well, I wasn't aiming for _pretentious, whiny bitch,_ but hey, if that's the way she comes off then I'll just stick with it. I was just trying to give her a bit of an attitude change because of what happened in the summer.

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Eleonora1: Oh I used to love torturing my favourite characters, my friends couldn't believe I loved Remus so much because of what I was doing to him in stories. Ah, Sev's reaction to what happened, I want to make it scary but I don't I'll succeed, he will hopefully terrify the culprits though. Ah, what is Severus brewing? I probably should have mentioned that particular potion making a few chapters ago…it relates back to something mentioned in _Chapter 3._ But no, it has nothing to do with werewolves.

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Hipa: Ha ha, I can only picture Sev as the submissive one to Sirius or Lucius…

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Tall oaks: Ah, if the other readers don't like bad language then they shouldn't be reading my stories **:-D** Several mis-spelled words? Well, I was writing most of last chapter after midnight, I finished it around _3am,_ so I'll blame my bad spelling on that. Yeah man, they do love each other, Sev just doesn't want to always show it. Thanks for your other comments!

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Chang Wumei: Ah sadly, Ron and Hermione will not be a featured couple in this story, so don't get your hopes up. As for Hermie, sorry I hurt her.

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MajinSakuko: Thank you.

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Eve27: Ah more Sev/Rem, I'll do my best with that!

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Wishingstarr: Thank you! I'm glad you like it that much.

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Warning: There will be **resurrection** in this story from now on, but don't get annoyed, I did mention it in_ Chapter 3_ and I have been planning it since I started this story. I'm just saying this because I know some people don't like the dead coming back.

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AND JUST A LITTLE CHANGE: _Now that I have your attention, still… At the end of last chapter when I said Hermione would wake up with some unexpected by her bed, well, I've changed that. She will see this unexpected person in the Infirmary though._

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Woah, I think I should stop answering reviews unless they really call for an answer…nearly 2 pages in Word and the chapter hasn't started yet.

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Chapter 10:_ Awakening_

Remus had barely left Hermione's side since he had gotten to the Infirmary the night they were informed by Romulus. He was refusing to leave his first born's side while she was unconscious from whatever it was that had happened to her, so Romulus was substituting Defense Against the Dark Arts for his brother.

Much to the horror of many students, even the Slytherins, Professor Snape was in an even fouler mood than he had ever been in before. It was only really the Gryffindor Sixth Year boys, Ginny and Draco who knew why he was so angry, his daughter had been attacked after all.

It had been two weeks since the attack and yet no punishments had been handed out as nobody had come forward with information yet. Though Severus was very suspicious of his own House upon remembering what Hermione had said about them plotting something, but Dumbledore had forced him into _not_ giving out random punishments in revenge.

………

Remus sat in the armchair beside Hermione's bed with a book in his lap, he wasn't really reading it, he just had the book to try and keep his mind off worrying about his daughter. There was something else on his mind, as well, he knew it should make him happy but he couldn't really feel any emotion other than worry at the moment.

As he sat there staring at the pages of his book, Severus turned up after classes fuming, but upon seeing the look on Remus' face, his foul mood soon dissolved into one of concern. "Any progress?"

Remus shook his head, "No…And Poppy said if she doesn't wake up within the next few days then we should really start worrying."

Severus sat down on the arm of the chair Remus was in and put an arm around Remus' shoulders; they were safe from prying eyes as the curtain was drawn around Hermione's bed. "She will wake up."

Remus huffed, "What makes you so sure?"

Severus kissed Remus on the top of the head, "This is Hermione we're talking about, she hates letting people down." He let Remus lean against him. "I will not repeat this, but I do miss having her in class…she is the only sixth year that can answer my questions. So she had better wake up."

Remus smiled slightly, "I'll make sure to let her know that."

"I heard…" Both men looked to the bed as Hermione moved a little and let out a groan, "Someone turn off the sun…"

Remus let out a huge sigh, "Oh thank god."

Hermione opened her eyes slowly, blinking rapidly when she caught some bright light, "What happened…" It took her a few moments to get her eyes to focus on her parents properly.

Severus frowned a little, "We were rather hoping you could tell us." He stayed right where he was, an arm resting casually around his pregnant lover's shoulders. "Do you remember anything?"

Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her forehead before opening them again, she looked a little more alert now though still quite dazed, "Should I remember something?"

Remus sat up straight, a faint frown on his face, "Don't worry about it right now… How do you feel?"

Hermione pulled a face and rubbed her forehead again, "I feel like I have a hangover…stop glaring at me, I bet you two were getting drunk at sixteen as well… My head hurts."

"I bet it does." Replied Remus, "You were pretty bashed up when Ginny and Ron found you."

"Found me…what the hell?" Hermione had a very confused look on her face. "Was I attacked or something?" she raised her eyebrows at her parents who both stayed silent. "Oh god, I _was_ attacked wasn't I?"

"Well, unless you broke your own ribs and threw yourself down the stairs-" Severus was cut off by Remus' elbow connecting with his own ribs. "Yes, you were attacked. But we were hoping you could remember who did it."

Hermione shook her head slowly; "I don't remember anything…how long have I been in here?"

"About a fortnight." Replied Remus leaning back into the chair again, one hand protectively on his stomach.

"I've missed two weeks of school?!" Exclaimed Hermione; she tried to sit up but found it too painful to do so. "Ow…"

"How'd I know that would be the next comment?" Remarked Severus in minor amusement. Hermione scowled at him. "Your missed work is not what is important right now."

At that moment, Madame Pomfrey came bustling into the cubicle tutting as usual, "Ah good, both my patients are awake today."

"Oh joy." Muttered Severus sarcastically. His comment earned a glare of Madame Pomfrey and another elbow in the ribs off Remus.

Hermione raised her eyebrows curiously, it seemed Madame Pomfrey's other patient was someone Severus did not like, though that hardly narrowed it down, he didn't like anyone except for his own family and even that was subject to doubt.

"Now Granger, how are you feeling?" Questioned Madame Pomfrey.

"Painful and groggy."

Madame Pomfrey nodded, then she looked to Remus and Severus, "Right you two, clear you off." She gave Remus a stern look as he opened his mouth to protest; apparently he thought better of it and stood up pouting before his lover dragged him out of the cubicle. Poppy sighed, "That man hasn't left your side since it happened, you know?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "Really?" Poppy nodded. "Shouldn't he be resting though, with the baby and all…"

"Mm well, Remus has always thought he knows best." Replied the matron before going to get Hermione a few potions. "Here, you need to drink each of these potions for the next _week_ at least, to make sure you heal properly."

Hermione nodded and started drinking down each of the small goblets of potion, each just as fowl if not worse as the one before it. "Ugh…these are disgusting."

"Yes well, your father did make them." Replied Poppy sighing, "Now, the Headmaster was hoping to have a word with you about what happened when you regain consciousness, so I shall inform him that you have woken up."

"But I don't remember anything." Said Hermione before the matron left, "It came as a complete shock to me when I woke up and was told I was attacked…"

"Ah…well, I will still inform the Headmaster and see what he says, all right?"

Hermione nodded again, "Ok…"

The injured teen was left alone for a while until a blond haired boy peeped into her cubicle to see if she was awake.

"Hi."

Hermione looked up from where she was staring at the end of her bed, "Hey."

Draco came right into the cubicle looking quite guilty to say the least, "How are you?"

Hermione smiled slightly, "Ok I guess, I've been given a whole heap of foul potions and apparently I may have amnesia, and you?"

Draco shrugged and sat down in the abandoned chair, "All right, I've been worried sick about you and I have been officially dubbed the _Outcast of Slytherin."_

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "Why?"

Draco smirked slightly, "Apparently I am a _disgrace to Purebloods everywhere_ mainly because the rest of my House found out I warned you about their attack-" he broke off when he saw Hermione's shocked look. "What?"

"The Slytherins attacked me?"

Draco nodded slowly, "Oh…is that what you meant by amnesia?"

"Yeah…" Hermione sighed, "Oh god…" she squeezed her eyes shut. "It's all coming back now." She opened her eyes again and gazed back at Draco. "Could you maybe get-"

Hermione broke off when two more people appeared at the entrance to the cubicle, both glaring straight at the blond next to her bed, who was now glaring straight back at them.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here, Malfoy?!" Demanded Ron straight away.

Hermione groaned, "Please don't start you three." She spoke loudly as she looked between Draco, Ron and much to her surprise, Harry. "Look, Harry, Ron…Draco and I have been friends since we were babies, _that_ is why he is here. Now if you three are just going to stand there glaring at each other then you can just get out."

Ron folded his arms and refused to stop glaring at the blond, "It was Slytherins who landed you here, I wouldn't trust him."

Draco snorted quietly, "Yes, but you may also notice _Weasley,_ that no one in my House actually speaks to me now because I stuck up for Hermione. I had nothing to do with the attack, I _warned_ her about it."

Ron and Harry both looked to Hermione who nodded, "He's telling the truth…I remember it vaguely…anyway, you guys should clear off before my parents come back, I don't think you'll want to be present when I tell them what I remember. Can't wait for dad's reaction, that ought to be terrifying."

………

Severus' reaction to what happened was rather terrifying, or at least Hermione thought it would be for the Slytherins when he got to their common room after storming off looking murderous. It seemed no one hurt his children and got away with it, even if they were in Slytherin. Hermione just hoped he wouldn't get at Draco as well as he was innocent in this case,_ for once._

Remus frowned slightly; "You know what's going to happen now, don't you?"

Hermione stared blankly at him, "No. Should I?"

Remus smirked, "Those kids are probably going to get expelled-"

"Good."

"So of course their parents will find out, and that will get back to Voldemort-"

"Not seeing the problem yet."

"I never said this was a problem. Anyway, the Dark Lord still wants you in his clutches, once he finds out that his future Death Eaters attempted to kill you, he will most likely kill them and their parents."

Hermione's eyes widened slightly, "Really?"

Remus nodded, "And if Voldemort wipes out half his Death Eaters, it really gives the Order more of a boost."

"So in some weird way, me getting bludgeoned into a bloody and broken pulp with a beater's bat is helping the Order?"

"Yeah."

Hermione nodded slowly, "And Dumbledore is letting dad sort out their punishments."

"Mmhmm." Remus leaned back in the chair, "Dumbledore knows he's not going to keep that man quiet about this and as Head of Slytherin, he can expel them for some pretty minor things."

Hermione bit her bottom lip nervously; "H-he's not going to do anything to Draco is he? Because he didn't do anything…"

"He knows." Replied Remus, "He told me about the warning Draco gave you beforehand after you told him, but we've been powerless to do anything about it until now because we didn't have any evidence. Although Ron and Harry jumped straight to the conclusion that it was the Slytherins."

Hermione scratched her head and winced when she touched a sore bit, "So…Harry's been coming to visit?"

Remus nodded, "Yeah he has, along with Ron and Ginny…and Draco has as well when he knows its safe."

"You don't know why Harry stopped talking to me do you?"

"No I don't." Remus rubbed his stomach gently, "But he did look quite guilty about whatever happened between you two."

"I don't even know what happened." Grumbled Hermione, "He didn't attempt to apologise earlier, even if Draco was here."

Remus rolled his eyes, he was so used to his daughter complaining about her friends now that it didn't phase him anymore, "Well, I think he probably has other things on his mind right now."

"Oh? Like what?"

Remus smiled, "Dumbledore's most recent successful plan." Hermione raised an eyebrow. "A eh, _resurrection_ so to speak."

Hermione stared blankly at him again for a few moments before her eyes widened in realisation, "He figured out the veil?" Remus nodded. "…Sirius is back?" Remus nodded again. "I was wondering why dad didn't like the idea that two patients had woken up today."

Remus smirked, "Oh yeah, he's not happy at all, but that's understandable."

"How did Dumbledore do it?"

Remus shrugged, "I have absolutely no idea, he hasn't told anyone yet…though something tells me he probably won't."

"Oh…but I want to know."

"Don't we all?"

"If you're going to talk about me, at least include me in the conversation…" Came a weak voice from the cubicle next to Hermione's.

Hermione grinned, "Hiya Sirius."

Remus pulled back the curtain separating the two beds and checked his watch, "I have to go, behave you two."

"Bye dad."

"See you Moony."

After Remus left, Hermione turned her head so she could see Sirius, "Enjoying your new lease on life?"

Sirius snorted, "Oh yeah, totally…being unable to move and being force fed potions everyday is the greatest."

Hermione frowned and sat up a little, "What do you mean _unable to move?"_

Sirius sighed, "The veil does some serious shit to you…I can't do much except eat, talk and read."

"Wow…" Hermione nodded slowly. "So…has it left you weak or paralysed?"

"A bit of both."

"Isn't there something someone can do?" Questioned Hermione, her thirst for knowledge was back full force already. Especially now that she knew Dumbledore had cracked the mystery of that Veil in the _Department of Mysteries._ She wanted to know what it did, how it did it, and how Sirius was brought back through.

Sirius nodded, "Yes there is. But the only person that knows of my innocence and is capable of making that particular potion, is working on something else for Dumbledore at the moment…that and he hates me."

"Ah…"

……

Remus had let Romulus take care of Maria for the evening, as he was sure Severus would still be very angry when he finally came back to their quarters. He didn't particularly want their youngest daughter seeing that sort of temper, she was yet to witness, whereas he and Hermione had both been on the receiving end several times.

As soon as he entered the quarters a while after storming out of the Infirmary, Severus leaned back against the door and squeezed his eyes shut. He was very aware of the curious brown eyes on him and he sighed, "Don't start."

"I wasn't going to say _anything."_ Replied Remus, "I'm just curious as to what you did to the Slytherins, that's all."

Severus huffed quietly and opened his eyes so he could see his pregnant lover; "I never had time to get to the punishments because Dumbledore turned up to take charge. Seems he doesn't trust my judgement."

Remus smirked slightly; "There's a surprise." Severus glared at him. "You would have expelled them wouldn't you?"

"Of course." Severus stayed leaning back against the door. "Seeing as Dumbledore has forbidden me to leave the school since the last Death Eater meeting I attended, it doesn't really matter how I treat the Slytherins now, does it?"

"Guess not." Remus got up from his armchair and went over to his lover. "Dumbledore said he was thinking of expulsion anyway, it was attempted murder after all."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "When has he ever expelled someone for attempted murder? I recall a certain _incident_ in _our_ sixth year." Remus gazed levelly at him; he knew what was coming. "But of course, _Black_ was a Gryffindor wasn't he and Dumbledore's favourite _mutt."_

Remus sighed and folded his arms over his stomach, "As I have said several times before, you _did_ bring it upon yourself and you did _not_ actually have to listen to Sirius' instructions that night." Severus' eyes had narrowed. "Anyway, according to _you_ I had a part in that _prank_ and I happen to be carrying your third child. What happened to your grudge there?"

Severus gazed coldly at Remus for a moment before moving passed his lover and disappearing into the bedroom without so much as another word.

Remus just shook his head and went back to his chair, Severus could brood all he wanted but it wouldn't change the truth of that night.

…………………………………………………

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A/N: Yes I know, a serious lack of that _mysterious potion_ Sev is brewing. As for the resurrection, there will be another one soon, so if you don't like that, stop reading.

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Next Chapter: Hermione is out of the Infirmary and starting her _Occlumency_ and _Imperius_ lessons. Romulus and Remus sit down and have a chat.


	11. What Nightmares Are Made Of Part 1

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I own the nearly non-existent Maria Snape.

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Brunette89: Ah yes, the potion is interesting.

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Cutieak88: What's wrong with Harry? Well, I'm not entirely sure.

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Elmindrea-al'Thor: Glad you like it!

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NativeMoon: Ha ha, who knows what Sev is inhaling in that classroom. Glad you like the way I write Draco.

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Dora: They don't have to constantly show that they care for the love to be there, it is there though.

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Beth5572: Ooh, Harry/Hermione? I'm not sure whom I'm pairing Hermione up with yet.

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Tall oaks: I think Severus would have just used _Avada Kedavra_ or _Crucio_ on those kids for doing that to his daughter, but that's why Dumbledore stepped in. Ah, you will be seeing more of Draco and Hermione's friendship. I'll see what I can do about explaining why Hermione's parentage is such a secret. Woot for Remmie! And rest assured I will _always_ read your reviews, I love reviews.

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Fallen Angel of Hell: Issues? You mean the resurrection thing?

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Hoofservant: Interesting name. Ok, I'm sure I can put more Romulus in, and I'm glad you like alternate universe stories!

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MishapsErrors: Righto, thanks for that.

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I'm sorry if this chapter is crap and doesn't follow what I said it would at the end of last chapter, but don't worry, this is _Part One._ I've just had terrible writer's block recently and I am sincerely trying to update my stories properly. But so far my attempts have been a bit half-arsed and not really worthy of reading.

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Chapter 11:_ What Nightmares are Made Of Part 1_

It had been a week since Hermione had woken up now and Madame Pomfrey was finally satisfied enough with her recovery to let her leave the Infirmary and the matron's watchful eye.

Sirius sighed mournfully after Madame Pomfrey had spoken to Hermione; "You're leaving me."

Hermione giggled from behind her cubicle curtain where she was changing, "Oh please, you've done nothing but make fun of me since I knew you were back." She finished dressing and pulled back the curtain. "You nasty mutt."

"Woof."

Hermione smirked, "I'll still come and visit and I'm sure Harry, Ron and Ginny will too, as well as dad. Anyway, I have to go." Sirius gave her the puppy eyes. "Oh stop it! You're a grown man, so try not to get too lonely without me."

…

Remus had been back teaching ever since Hermione had woken up, that is until today. The werewolf had had a particularly violent bout of morning sickness this morning and it had continued right up until lunchtime so he had spent most of his day in the bathroom of Severus' quarters with his head in the toilet bowl.

He had finally managed to drag himself into the shower after the potion Severus practically force fed him at lunchtime had taken affect but he was still so exhausted. He had barely slept for the last three weeks mainly due to worry for Hermione and now worry for Maria having to go through another full moon without Moony and he was certain he would lose his job if he missed anymore classes. None of the other staff, including Dumbledore, knew he was pregnant, except for Severus and Madame Pomfrey.

……

Severus finished up the essay marking that he had given up on last night and headed back into his quarters, he saw Remus just getting up off the floor after a floo chat, "Who was that?"

"Lucius…" Replied Remus quietly, "He wants a message passed onto Hermione."

Severus nodded and crossed the distance between them; he pressed a kiss to Remus' temple and pulled the werewolf close, "How are you feeling?"

"Shitty."

"That bad huh?"

Remus huffed quietly, "You try being pregnant and see how _you_ like it."

Severus rested his head against Remus', "I wasn't teasing you, I was just wondering." He gently rubbed Remus' back and frowned. "When was the last time you ate?"

Remus sniffed, "Does it matter? It's all just going to come back up anyway."

Severus pulled away slightly and gazed at Remus with a mildly irritated expression on his face, "Of course it matters Remus, you're pregnant. You need to eat _something,_ you're skinny enough as it is."

"So are you."

Severus sighed, "I am not the one with child. You are eating for two," he held up a hand to stop Remus from replying. "I know you're having terrible morning sickness but you have to try, starving yourself isn't good for the baby. _Or you."_

"I know…but still, talking about it right now is making me want to vomit."

"Will you have some dinner?"

"…Ok…"

"Good." Severus put his arms back around Remus' waist and rested his forehead against the shorter man's, "You know I love you, right?"

Remus smiled, "I know…it would just be nice if you showed it a little more, to me and the girls."

"I can try."

"Good." Remus kissed him lightly on the lips. "Do you think we can get along now?" Severus nodded. "Do you think you and Sirius can get along?"

"Don't push it."

Remus grinned and pressed his lips back to those of the Potions master who happily excepted them.

………

"Morning Professor." Said Hermione when she got to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom the next day. "My, my dad, you've changed."

Romulus snorted and looked over his shoulder at her, "Your father is sick. Anyway, how are you feeling?"

Hermione dropped her bag on a desk and sat down, "I feel like I have a permanent hangover…other than that I'm ok. What's wrong with dad?"

Romulus shrugged, "Have no idea, he missed his classes yesterday as well. Severus mentioned something about _throwing up_."

"Ah, morning sickness." Hermione noticed the surprised look her uncle was giving her. "You didn't know?" Romulus shook his head slowly. "Oh…damn…"

"Hm, I thought he seemed a little more emotional than usual." Said Romulus, "What are you doing here so early anyway?"

Hermione shrugged, "I wasn't that hungry and I thought I could get that work that I missed while I was unconscious."

"Ah yes, I can help you there." Romulus sifted through a pile of papers on the desk and pulled out a wad of parchment with her name scrawled in the top corner of the top sheet. "Here you go. Two weeks worth of stuff, there's no time limit to get the essays in, just take your time."

Hermione nodded and took the work, "Thanks." Just as she opened her mouth to say something else, the rest of the class started to arrive so she went and sat in her seat.

After everyone had settled into their seats and pulled all of their stuff out, Romulus started to speak. "Right, today we will be starting our work on the _Imperius Curse…"_

Hermione sat up straight in her chair, hearing that she had just remembered that she was supposed to be having lessons with both Severus and Lucius at some point this year. They had double potions next so she decided to ask her dad after class then.

……

Potions, as usual, was a horrible time for the Gryffindors, but what made it different now was that Professor Snape made snide remarks to the Slytherins as well now, much to the Gryffindor students' amusement.

Hermione nearly managed to mess her potion up because her head was practically killing her, she only managed to save it when Ron, of all people, pointed out what she had done wrong. She had only just fixed it up when her father had skulked along their line of desks, his usual sneer fixed in place when he saw Harry and Ron's attempts at potion making. It was obvious he was still trying to figure out just _how_ they both passed their Potions _OWL_ at the pass level he gave for his _NEWT_ class.

After the not so nice Professor had gone, Ron spoke, "Are you ok?" He asked quietly.

"Who? Me? …I'm fine." Replied Hermione distractedly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah…dead sure…" Hermione rubbed her forehead and grimaced. "Just have a headache, that's all."

By the time class finished and nearly everyone had bottled up their potions and left, Hermione felt just about ready to die. She had no idea why her head hurt so much, Madame Pomfrey had assured her that her injuries would no longer bother her, but that didn't seem to be the case at all.

"You coming 'Mione?" Asked Harry curiously. He still hadn't told her why he had stopped speaking to her, in fact, he seemed quite embarrassed about it. But she had made a mental note to herself to make him talk eventually.

"No."

Ron frowned, "Well…we'll wait for you."

Hermione rolled her eyes; "I do _not_ _need_ bodyguards. Go."

"Bu-"

Severus glanced up from his desk; they were the only people left in the classroom now.

"Shoo! Lunch is waiting."

Both boys, obviously against their own will, reluctantly left grumbling.

"You should take them up on that you know."

Hermione sniffed, "Don't you start as well."

"I have a right to _start."_ Severus glanced up from his desk again and frowned slightly. "Are you all right? You seem a little distracted."

Hermione moved up to the front of the classroom, her arms folded, "My head is killing me…can you give me something for it?"

"Mmhmm." Severus nodded his head towards his office, "Come on." He followed his miserable looking daughter into his office; he then went into his storeroom to get the potion she needed. "Any other symptoms?" He called from the storeroom.

Hermione sat on the desk and sniffed again, "No… I think I have a cold…"

Severus soon came back out of his storeroom with two goblets in hand, "Here. One for the headache and the other for the congestion."

"I thought Madame Pomfrey said I was better…" Grumbled Hermione before she drank the first potion and pulled a face.

"Yes I know its disgusting, but it will help." Severus handed her the next potion and put a hand to her forehead. "Hm, feels like you have a temperature as well." Hermione quickly drank down the second potion and put the goblet on his desk. "They are going to make you drowsy now, so I'll exempt you from the rest of the day."

Hermione made a small noise, "But I've already missed so much."

Severus pulled her off his desk and steered his daughter towards his quarters, "I know you have, but your health is more important at the moment especially after your attack. You rest in here so I can keep an eye on you."

Hermione sat down on the couch pouting, "Fine."

"Miney!" Maria had been trying to say _Hermione_ ever since she had started talking and even now she still hadn't managed to get it right yet.

"What's the matter?" Asked Remus as he appeared just behind Maria.

"She's sick." Replied Severus; he looked back to Hermione. "Sleep." As if on cue, Hermione gave a big yawn.

"He's trying to knock me out again…" Mumbled Hermione as the potions were kicking in.

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A/N: That was really quite random and crap if you ask me, but you guys usually disagree with me, don't you? And _nightmares_ the title of this chapter spoke of, will be revealed next chapter.

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Next Chapter:_ FINALLY SOME ACTION!!_ The potion Severus is brewing will **_finally_** come to light. Occlumency. Imperius Lessons. Rem and Rom chat.

And again, sorry! I promise I will put those things into the next chapter. I will make it up to you!

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Oh one other thing, I had an idea involving this story and the Dursleys but I don't think I'll put it into this story. But I was thinking of writing a spin-off involving the Dursleys and the Late One Night_ world. What do you think? Would you like me to do that?_


	12. What Nightmares Are Made Of Part 2

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I own Maria and Romulus.

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Elmindrea-al'Thor: I did actually mention the thing about pregnant werewolves a few chapters back, but I can tell you again. Pregnant werewolves do not transform, as it would damage the baby. Thanks for still liking this!

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Brunette89: Ha, I knew someone would disagree with me. Ah yes, the mysterious potion, you will definitely hear about it this chapter.

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ThouandI: Yet again, I know someone would disagree with me. The potion you will see in this chapter as well as more Sirius.

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Sarahamanda: Thank you! Glad you like it! Is Harry falling for Hermione? You'll have to wait and see.

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frk-werewolf: Ha ha, I'm glad you like this AU! I quite like the idea of Snape as a father as well.

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DemiSaiyan: Thank you! Glad you like it!

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Wonni: I'm glad you like it! And don't worry, I won't involve the Dursleys.

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Right, I have my trusty copy of _OotP_ here to help me with the Occlumency lessons…so hopefully I have gotten it right. The odd one or two things are quoted directly from _Chapter 24: Occlumency_ in book 5.

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Also, as mentioned back in _chapter 6,_ Remus and Romulus have three sisters…just in case you forgot. Their names also come from mythology/legends like their younger twin brothers. _Aglaia, Althea, Aurora._ There's no particular reason why their names all start with an _'A',_ it was just an alphabetical order Mythological Name list.

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Chapter 12:_ What Nightmares Are Made Of: Part 2_

Hermione spent most of her weekend, after getting out of the Infirmary and coming down with an illness, down in the dungeon, entertaining her sister with magic and generally being a nice big sister, _for once_. She also spent a good two hours trying to get Maria to say her name properly but it still didn't work much to her disappointment.

………

It was Monday night now and Hermione was already late for her first Occlumency lesson, she ran along the dungeon corridor to the Potions classroom and entered the room out of breath. She went to the door off to the side of the classroom and cautiously pushed it open, knowing she would be in trouble for being late.

"You're late."

Hermione bit her bottom lip, "I know, I'm sorry."

"Don't let it happen again." Said Severus as he put his Pensieve back on the shelf he had gotten it from. "Close the door."

Hermione obediently closed the door and stood still waiting for her next instruction. Her father hadn't been in the best of moods today, so she felt it would be better if she didn't say anything at all unless he said something that required an answer. But she did have a pretty good idea of what had caused his foul mood; she had noticed Remus glaring at him at the staff table at lunchtime.

Severus finally turned back to her, "Am I right in assuming that you have already read everything you can about Occlumency?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah."

"Tell me what you know."

Hermione thought for a moment, "Well…I know that it's a branch of magic that seals your mind against magical intrusion and influence. I also know that Legilimency is what's used to break into somebody's mind and that Vol-the Dark Lord is a skilled a Legilimens." She had only just caught herself before saying _Voldemort_ and she was glad she had, because she didn't particularly want to do this while he was in a ratty mood with her. Before Severus could say anything, Hermione spoke again. "Why do I have to learn this? I mean, what in my mind needs to be shut off from the Dark Lord if I'm kidnapped?"

Severus spoke as he pulled his wand out from inside his robes again, "You know too much about the Order, where the Headquarters are for instance and Lucius being a spy for Dumbledore. There is also the matter of your heritage."

"Oh…never thought of that."

Severus smirked slightly, "Obviously. Now, take out your wand." Hermione did so and he moved so he was about six feet in front of her. "You may use your wand to attempt to disarm me, or defend yourself in any other way you can think of."

Hermione nodded, eyeing him or more precisely, eyeing his _wand_ cautiously. "What are you going to do?"

"I am going to attempt to break into your mind." Replied Severus, he raised his wand and pointed it at his daughter. "Brace yourself. _Legilimens!"_

Hermione had barely raised her own wand when he struck; she hadn't been ready at all. The office started to go hazy in front of her before it completely vanished. She started to see images flashing before her eyes; it was like seeing her life flash before her eyes.

She was thirteen and storming out of Trelawney's classroom in a tantrum… Her third year again and she was punching Draco in the face for laughing at Hagrid… She was fifteen and cornered in the _Department of Mysteries_ with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna by Death Eaters, Lucius was trying to bargain with Harry… She was twelve and seeing the yellow eyes of the Basilisk in the pocket mirror she had borrowed… She was six and watching wide eyed as Death Eaters tortured her parents…

__

No! Cried Hermione inside her head, that was the one memory she was afraid he would see. _No…_

But before she could react anymore, Severus had lifted the spell in shock at seeing her last memory.

Hermione was on her knees breathing heavily, ever since she had been told she had to learn Occlumency, she had been worried her father would see that particular memory mainly because he had been kept in the dark about her seeing that. She chanced a nervous look up and saw Severus watching her with a mixture of shock, curiosity and anger written on his face.

"You saw that…" He stated quietly as Hermione pulled herself back to her feet.

Hermione looked down at the ground and sniffed, "Yes…"

…

Remus was sitting on a rock beside the lake, staring up at the nearly full moon. He had been out here thinking since dinnertime, he needed some fresh air and he had wanted to get away from Severus for a little while. The mood swings that came with his pregnancy had turned towards anger now instead of misery, and with Severus' perpetual bad mood they didn't make the most pleasant of couples at the moment.

He had been to Dumbledore and told the Headmaster that he was pregnant and that he probably wouldn't be the most reliable of teachers now, not that he thought he ever had been. Romulus had been given the full time job of _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ Professor now as he had already been substituting for his brother. Though Remus was no longer needed at Hogwarts to teach, he had been made to remain at the school anyway. Sirius had wanted his remaining friend around while he was still bound to his bed in the Infirmary, Romulus had been concerned for his brother, Dumbledore always thought he knew best and Severus was just a little overprotective sometimes, even when they weren't on the best of terms.

Remus sighed and lay back on the over-sized rock and folded his arms over his stomach. He was quite content to stay out here most of the night, especially as he knew Hermione would be having her first Occlumency lesson right now and it would be best not to interrupt that.

A few minutes later he heard someone approaching, the footsteps were light on the ground so it definitely wasn't Hagrid.aHaH

"Do you usually sleep on rocks?"

__

Romulus. Remus kept his eyes closed and smiled slightly, "Only when beds don't seem too appealing."

Romulus raised an eyebrow slightly and sat down on the rock next to his brother, "You all right?"

Remus huffed quietly, "Define _all right."_

"Fair enough." Romulus thought for a moment, his eyes glued to the moon. "I got an owl from Rory earlier." Rory, or Aurora in full, was their older sister; there was an age gap of nearly a decade between them.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mm, she's worried about you, so's mum apparently…she said you haven't been replying to any of their letters recently." Said Romulus almost questioningly. He was quite aware of the fact that Remus hadn't been getting along with any of their siblings or their parents for quite a number of years now. So much so that he hadn't even taken little Maria to see her grandparents yet and she was growing up fast, they hadn't seen Hermione for a long time either.

Remus opened his eyes again and gazed up at the starlit sky above him, "Its not like I haven't replied before. Anyway, why should I?"

Romulus raised his eyebrows, he figured it was probably Remus' erratic hormones speaking more than anything, "We're in the middle of a war, is that not reason enough?"

…

"Why didn't you say anything?" Questioned Severus after getting over his shock.

Hermione sat down on the chair in front of his desk, "Because dad and Lucius told me not to…"

"They knew?" His tone was a bit harsher than he had intended.

Hermione bit her bottom lip and nodded, "Lucius turned up with Dumbledore half way through that…_torture_ session," Severus quite visibly winced. "He saw me and he dragged me away…he told me not to mention it to either of you so I didn't."

Severus gazed at her, a faint frown on his face now. This had sparked a memory from when Hermione was six years old and it fit right into place, "That's why you started having reoccurring nightmares, isn't it?"

Hermione nodded jerkily, "I'd had a nightmare that night…that's why I wasn't in bed in the first place." Seeing her parents being tortured when she was so young had scared her, but every since she had been old enough to understand it and know what had been happening, her fear of it happening again had become even greater. Especially now that Voldemort was back and she knew they were both in the Order, not to mention them both being targets for murder. "Why were they there in the first place?"

Severus sighed and leaned back against his desk, his eyes still on his daughter. "They had found out my betrayal to the Dark Lord, and being some of the few Death Eaters that managed to stay out of Azkaban after the Dark Lord's fall, they decided to do something about it. From what I remember, they had employed Lucius' help as well, but he refused and instead he tipped Dumbledore off about their plans." He saw that Hermione's eyes were rapidly filling with tears, he could imagine how horrible it must have been for her to see that, Remus and himself under the _Cruciatus Curse._ "I think they intended to leave you as an orphan by the end of the night, thankfully their plans were foiled."

Hermione wiped her eyes on one of the sleeves of her robes and she looked back down at the floor. "…Dad only found out after he saw my boggart before I started Hogwarts…that's why he wouldn't let me fight it in third year, when we studied them in class…" She sniffled. "W-when I saw the boggart in my bedroom I thought it was happening again and I screamed…dad came running and he saw it…"

Severus closed his eyes for a moment, taking all this in, then he opened them again and saw Hermione was desperately trying not to cry. His daughter's worst fear was seeing her parents hurt… Hermione sniffed again which broke him out of his thoughts. Severus then pulled Hermione to her feet and hugged her tightly, resting his chin on top of her head and stroking her hair soothingly as she cried into his robes.

But now, knowing this, there was even more reason to teach Hermione how to close her mind to the Dark Lord and how to resist the _Imperius Curse._ Severus knew the Dark Lord would use something like this to his advantage if he ever got a hold of Hermione or he would use it to _get_ a hold of her.

………

It was Tuesday night now and Hermione was running late for her _Imperius Curse_ lesson, she was trying to catch up on the work she had missed while she was in the Infirmary unconscious, not to mention the new homework they were given by every teacher. She was to meet Lucius in an empty classroom in the dungeons, mainly so that he could floo through the Potion master's fireplace and so they he wasn't seen skulking around the school by curious students, especially certain ones that knew he should have been in Azkaban.

Hermione took a deep breath and pushed open the door, she was bracing herself for any sort of mood wing from Lucius, she knew from the tales Draco had told her that he could be even worse than Severus if you kept him waiting.

"Ah, so you did decide to turn up then?"

__

Well, at least he doesn't sound angry. I'd hate for him to be in a bad mood if he's going to cast an Unforgivable on me. Thought Hermione as she closed the door behind her. "Sorry. Had a lot of homework to do…" she trailed off when she saw the bottle of Firewhiskey on the desk beside Lucius. "Should you be drinking if you're going to cast an Unforgivable on me?" She was well aware of the fear that had edged into her voice.

Lucius smirked, "You may be surprised to learn, my dear, that I am usually intoxicated when I cast the Unforgivables. It lessens the guilt." Hermione still looked a little worried. "I am not going to torture or kill you, don't worry. I'm not _that_ drunk."

Hermione nodded slowly, "Right… You'll forgive me for still being worried though, right?"

"I suppose so." Replied Lucius lazily before getting of the desk he had been sitting on, he pulled his wand out of the end of his cane and pushed his long hair behind his shoulders. "Right-what are you grinning at?"

Hermione stifled a giggle and shook her head, "Nothing."

Lucius narrowed his eyes slightly, _"Hermione."_ His tone was threatening.

Hermione regained some of her composure but she was still grinning, "Just…just something someone said about your cane…" She forced an innocent look onto her face, though she was sure it was already a bit too late for that.

"Don't make me use something other than the _Imperius_ on you." Warned Lucius, he did not like being kept in the dark about something, especially by teenagers or children.

"Ask your son." Was all she replied with.

Lucius was still watching her suspiciously when he raised his wand; "Right…I know _Moody_ taught about the Unforgivables while he was teaching so I assume you know what's going to happen."

"Yep."

"Good… _Imperio!"_

………

"Where do you keep disappearing to?" Asked Ron early Friday evening, while he Hermione and Harry were doing their homework in a secluded corner of the Common Room.

"Me?" Replied Hermione glancing up at him. He nodded. She sighed, "I suppose it won't hurt to tell you."

Ron frowned, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Hermione snorted, "No, Ron. No need to jump to the defense over that." Harry smirked, but Hermione couldn't help but notice a red tint had come to his cheeks. She mentally noted that as another bit of odd behaviour from him and then she lowered her voice to answer Ron's question. "Last term Dumbledore told me that Voldemort-for heaven's sake Ron! -He told me that _Voldemort_ was planning to have me kidnapped because I'm close to you, Harry. And before I was attacked I was meant to start having _Occlumency_ lessons as well as lesson to fight off the _Imperius Curse._ I've only started them properly this week."

"So who's teaching you then?" Questioned Ron.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "I would've thought the _Occlumency_ teacher was obvious."

__

"I figured that." Said Harry, "But who's teaching you how to fight off the _Imperius Curse?"_

Hermione bit her lip in thought for a moment, she figured coming clean would be the best course of action otherwise her friend would use the Marauders' Map next time she disappeared at night. "Lucius Malfoy."

__

"What?!"

Several people in the common room looked over at them to see why Ron had just shouted.

Hermione scowled at him, "Try not to attract too much unnecessary attention, _Ronald._ But yes, Lucius Malfoy. Why?" She lowered her voice again so that it was barely above a whisper. "He's spying for Dumbledore as well. Its just not many of the Order know about him… He's also my Godfather if that makes a difference."

"You're kidding."

"No I am _not_ kidding." Hermione checked her watch. "Right I have to go… Occlumency lesson." She confirmed to the two curious boys. "See you later and do _not_ copy my homework."

Hermione left the common room and headed down to the dungeon, she was determined not to be late this time. After Monday night's Occlumency experience she had nearly not bothered turning up for her Wednesday night lesson in case she had to relive that same memory again and she had ended up being exceptionally late. It didn't help that Severus had been particularly snappish that night, so much so that he had nearly made her cry again.

When she arrived at her father's office, _exactly_ on time, Hermione found it deserted. The only tell tale signs that he had been in there this evening was the cauldron that was simmering away on his desk. She peered into the cauldron and took a sniff, it definitely wasn't a potion she recognised, and then a group of notes next to the cauldron caught her attention.

Natural curiosity overtook her and she picked up the notes, was this the potion her father had been working on for the last few months?

As she skimmed the first few lines of the top page her eyes widened slightly.

__

Draught of Life

Intended for J. Potter…

At that moment someone cleared throat behind her.

"Shit…"

"And you are deep in it."

Hermione slowly turned around, the notes still in her hand, and face her glowering father.

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A/N: Wow, that was a long chapter.

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Next Chapter: Now that Hermione knows about the potion Severus is brewing, he decides to enlist her help for certain things. And Umbridge returns…


	13. Umbridge Returns

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I still own very little, but you probably know what I _do_ own by now.

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Brunette89: I will be skipping the yelling part from Severus, but yes, he would have yelled at her. And I'm glad you still like it!

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Sarahamanda: Glad you like it!

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Cutieak88: Ha ha, no, Harry doesn't have a boyfriend.

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DemiSaiyan: Glad you liked it!

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Elmindrea-al'Thor: Ha, I do the same sometimes. I managed to miss most of the _Occlumency_ chapter in the fifth book when I first read it, either I wasn't paying attention or I just skipped the whole chapter. I love my Lucius too **:-D**

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Tall oaks: Ha ha, well you can gather that Harry and Ron won't be too happy about Hermione being alone with Lucius, anyways. Ah, Remus already knows about Hermione's bad memory, he just doesn't know that Severus now knows.

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Frk-werewolf: Ha ha, the Harry thing is not so much a crush… Ah yes, I thought it was about time Hermione got a hug off one of her parents, as I don't think I've written that in yet.

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Yoblossom: Ha ha, thank you! I'm glad you like it! And I'll try and update soon so you don't have to get the angry mob onto me **:-P**

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Sasami Tombo: Well, _lover_ is the only word I can think of to use for Sev and Rem's relationship. I mean, I think _boyfriend_ sounds stupid for men in their late thirties and they're not married, so I figured _lover_ was the next best step. And don't worry, I am a step ahead of you with the _Draught of Life,_ it won't have to be administered by swallowing. Also, I am glad to have brought ol' Siri back!

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Eve27: Ha ha, you'll have to wait and see what's up with Harry.

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Goddess of Gorgeousness: Glad you liked what you've read so far!

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ThouandI: Glad you like it! Don't worry, _I_ know how Sev will administer the potion to James.

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Im no muggle: I'm glad you like it! Thanks for reading!

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Ah, I'm glad I've finally gotten that bad memory of Hermione's over and done with, that idea has been bugging me since I started this story. It's just taken me all this time to find the right place to slip it in.

Though I can't find it in any of the previous chapters, I'm fairly certain that I've given Maria black hair. If I have actually said something different in previous chapters, forgive me.

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Chapter 13:_ Umbridge Returns_

The days were warming up now, as April continued on. Students were starting to get more anxious about their up and coming exams, the teachers were getting more irritated by the constant revision questions being asked, Sirius was still in the Infirmary and finally making more of a recovery and Remus' hormones were still all over the place.

After catching Hermione reading his notes about the _Draught of Life_ and shouting at her, Severus had decided to employ her help. He had set her the task of jotting down his notes while he was making the potion, as it was still experimental and he had also decided on another task for her to help him with as it would be easier with a female.

…………

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny were all sitting under an oak tree near the lake doing their homework and revising, and also babysitting Maria.

"I have to say," Started Ginny without lifting her eyes from her Defense homework. "Defense Against the Dark Arts is so much more fun with a competent teacher…especially without Umbridge."

Harry smirked, "I'd say, god I hope we never have to see her again."

"Yeah, I hope those centaurs scared her off for good." Replied Ron; he glanced at the forest for a moment. "You think they'll attack her again if she came back?"

"More than likely." Said Hermione, _"I'd_ attack her if she came back."

"Would you really?"

Hermione nodded, "Well last year with all her _half breed_ remarks, it was only self constraint that stopped me from smashing her face into the wall." She settled herself on her stomach and continued reading her Transfiguration textbook. "That and I was rather hoping dad would lose control and attack her first."

Ginny frowned, "Would he have attacked her?"

Hermione smirked, "You haven't seen him angry yet, trust me. When he loses control, he _really_ loses control, and no Harry, at the end of third year, that wasn't his worst." She answered to Harry's raised eyebrows.

"Mione?" Hermione looked up at Ron. "Can I borrow your Potions essay? I just want to check some of my facts."

Ginny snorted, "That's one I haven't heard for _can I copy your homework?"_

Ron glared at his sister and then looked back to Hermione, "Please?"

"No." Said Hermione firmly. "Do it yourself."

"But I really do need to check a fact."

"Then ask me, don't copy."

Ron grumbled, "Ok then, what exactly does the Wolfsbane Potion do to a werewolf?" Their essay topic for potions had been to _talk about and describe the effects of the Wolfsbane Potion._

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed, "The Wolfsbane Potion has to be taken everyday for a week prior to the full moon, and come the transformation the werewolf will stay subdued and sleepy. They still have their animalistic urges to attack but when they've had the Wolfsbane, they have to be _provoked_ into an attack instead of just attacking because they smell _human._" She glanced at Maria who was making a daisy chain before looking back to Ron. "You might want to add that the potion doesn't work on young werewolves as well and that the only person bothering to make a strain of it to help cubs is our very own Potions master. Of course, saying that he'll know I've helped you and he'll probably mark you down because of it."

Ron frowned, "I don't think he could mark me much worse than he has been." He scribbled down the things Hermione had just told him, "All right, what's in it?"

"I'm not doing your essay for you." Snapped Hermione, "You shouldn't have left it until today to do, should you?" It was after all, Sunday afternoon, he'd had since Friday afternoon to do it and it was due tomorrow.

Ginny snickered, "Its called the _Wolfsbane_ Potion, what do you _think_ is in it?"

"Oh…"

"I need the loo, Miney."

Hermione looked to her sister before forcing herself to get, "All right, come on." She took Maria's hand. "We'll be back."

Ron watched as Hermione and Maria walked away from the tree and across the grounds, he snapped his head back to his sister when he heard her giggle. "What?"

Ginny grinned, "Planning your family with Hermione, are you?"

__

"No!"

"She's good with kids." Continued Ginny teasingly. "I think its about time you two did something about the attraction, don't you reckon Harry?" she glanced at Harry and saw the colour coming into his cheeks just like Ron. "Oh dear god…you both fancy your best friend?"

__

"NO!"

Ginny laughed, "Oh that's a classic, I wonder what 'Mione would say to that?"

Neither Harry nor Ron replied as they were scowling at each other.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at them both and decided it would probably be best not to mention this again, as the two boys looked ready to fight each other over Hermione.

…

Though the dungeon bathroom was actually closer, Hermione took her sister up to the first floor bathroom mainly because she didn't particularly want to have to face any Slytherins on such a lovely afternoon. "Don't take too long, I have a lot of homework to do."

"Otay." Maria disappeared into the bathroom.

Hermione leaned against the wall and gazed out the windows opposite her, which showed the Forbidden Forest. She had been given strict orders not to allow Maria to go wandering on her own, because last time that had happened it had taken nearly four hours to find the little girl in the castle and Remus had nearly had kittens out of worry.

"I'm finished, Miney."

Hermione smiled, "Did you wash your hands?" Maria nodded. "Good girl. Let's go make sure the others have stayed out of trouble, eh?"

Maria clutched her sister's hand as they walked back along the first floor corridor to the Grand Staircase, "Whose Umbwidge?"

Hermione snorted, "A right old bat, that's who. She's not very nice at all, she taught here in my fifth year."

"Oh…was she mean to you?"

"Yeah she was, but then she was mean to anyone that didn't co-operate." Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking?"

"Cause daddy was talking about her last night, he sounded angwy." Replied Maria; her brown eyes (inherited from Remus) were innocent as she looked up at her big sister.

"Really…" Now Hermione was curious. Why would either of her parents mention Umbridge unless she was returning to Hogwarts or she had come up with something else to discredit werewolves.

"What are you doing with the half breed's brat, Granger?"

Hermione stopped dead in the Entrance hall with her sister and turned to face Pansy Parkinson, who was as usual, flanked by all her friends as well as Crabbe and Goyle now that they had stopped trailing after Draco. "Its not really any of your business, _whore."_ She replied, giving a rather nasty sneer. Though when you were related to Severus Snape sneering came quite naturally.

"How dare you!" Shrieked Pansy, a highly offended look on her face.

Hermione was holding Maria's hand tightly, her other hand was now holding her wand which was in one of the pockets of her robes, "How dare I _what?_ Speak the truth or defend someone that is a much better person than you will ever be?" she gave Pansy a scornful look. "Now if you don't mind, Maria and I will be going back outside now. Goodbye."

With that, Hermione quickly tugged her wide-eyed sister back out through the entrance hall doors and back across the grounds to the oak tree beside the lake.

"Took your time." Said Ginny, she was still glancing between Harry and Ron who hadn't spoken since she had teased them but they did keep looking up and glaring at each other.

Hermione sat back down, "Had a run in with bloody Parkinson again."

Ginny tore her gaze away from the two boys, "What did the cow say?"

Hermione lay back on the grass and put an arm over her eyes, _"What are you doing with the half breed's brat?_ Is what she said… I admit, I think my sister _is_ a brat, but insulting my dad to my face whether she realises it or not is definitely going to piss me off. She can run to her Head of House if she wants, but when I say my side of the story its safe to assume he won't give a shit about her feelings."

"Feel a bit better now?" Asked Ginny in amusement.

Hermione huffed, "A little. I should've hexed her."

"Probably, but then you'd be in trouble as well. Plus, you're a Prefect, if you get anymore detentions you probably will have your badge taken off you."

Hermione sat back up and leaned back against the tree, "True…" She looked to the still silent Ron and Harry, and then back to Ginny. "What's up with those two?"

Ginny just giggled.

"Miney, what's a whore?"

Hermione bit her lip and looked to her sister, "Something I shouldn't have said in front of you…and promise me you will not repeat it in front of our parents, ok?"

"Otay."

"Good."

"What does shit mean then?"

Ginny snorted at the look on Hermione's face, "I think that's something else you shouldn't repeat, Maria."

………

When dinner came around that night, everyone got a rather big shock. There, up at the staff table, sat Dolores Umbridge looking just as high and mighty as she did at the beginning of the previous school year. None of the other teachers looked too happy about this, though Dumbledore did actually look rather amused.

Whatever reason she was there for, it must have been bad because Hermione actually witnessed Severus and Romulus talking to each other and only glaring in Umbridge's direction. Those two only ever spoke to each other if Remus was present to keep an eye on them, and he wasn't at dinner this evening.

"I can't believe she's back." Said Parvati down at the Gryffindor table. "I thought she had gone for good."

"Apparently not."

"I wish Fred and George were here now." Said Ron, "We could do with their pranks again."

Hermione thought for a moment as she played with her mashed potato, she had Maria beside her. "Maybe we could owl them for supplies. Pool all our money together, get some nice little items to attack her with." She glanced around at the several silent and surprised Gryffindor sixth years. "Yes, I am condoning it."

Lavender nodded her head vigorously, "I agree then. We need something to get rid of her. Again."

"Yeah, and next Hogsmeade weekend, if she's still here, we can call in at Zonkos." Suggested Dean.

………

After dinner that night, the Gryffindors went back to their Common Room and started plotting. Dumbledore had announced that Umbridge was here on behalf of the Ministry once again, though she had absolutely no power over the school this time.

Hermione checked her watch, "Come on Maria, I'll take you back to your dad."

"Otay."

"Bye Maria." Lavender and Parvati both gave the five-year-old a hug before they left.

Nearly all the students knew that Maria belonged to Remus, but only a handful of them, mostly Gryffindors, knew who her other parent was. And most of the students accepted that Remus seemed to trust Hermione with his daughter more than the other students.

Maria yawned as they walked along a corridor; "I'm tired."

"I bet you are. It's passed your bedtime." Said Hermione; "I am going to be in so much trouble."

And she was right; Remus turned on her almost as soon as they had entered the dungeon quarters.

"It's nearly nine o clock! What were you thinking?!"

Hermione took a step back from her dad, "Sorry, I just lost track of time…"

"That's no excuse!"

"Remus, calm down."

Remus glared at Severus, who was gazing back at him levelly, before picking Maria up and carrying her to her bedroom in a huff.

Severus raised an eyebrow at Hermione, "And the real reason?"

Hermione opened her mouth in offense, "I _did_ lose track of the time…that and we were plotting how to get rid of Umbridge again." She added quietly. "How long is she here for?"

"Till the end of term, apparently." Replied Severus.

"Oh…damn." Hermione headed to the door.

"Before you go, I want a word with you." Said Severus, his tone was a bit disapproving now. Hermione looked back to him. "What did you say to Pansy Parkinson?"

Hermione snorted, "I knew she'd come crying to you." Severus didn't look amused at all. "I called her a _whore_ but she did start it."

"What did she say?"

Hermione sighed and lowered her voice, hoping Remus wouldn't be able to hear her, "She asked me what I was doing with the _half breed's brat._ She's lucky I didn't smash her face into the floor."

Severus nodded slowly, "Ok."

__

"Ok? That's all you have to say?" Questioned Hermione incredulously. "Aren't you going to do something about it?"

Severus frowned, "Hermione, there isn't much I can do about it. No matter what I say its not going to change anyone's prejudices, is it?" Hermione crossed her arms petulantly. "Don't be like that."

"Fine." She turned back to the door. "Night."

"One more thing, dress warm tomorrow night."

Hermione frowned, that was a bit of an odd command for an Occlumency lesson, but she shrugged it off and left her father's quarters.

………

Before they had all turned in the night before, the Gryffindor sixth years had penned a note to send to Fred and George this morning, along with a lot of their money. It had been a very short note but they figured that just mentioning _Umbridge_ and _pranks_ would be enough to get the twins to send them a wide selection of _Weasleys Wizard Wheezes._

Their first lesson of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts and upon entering the classroom they were rather shocked to see Umbridge sitting at the back, a clipboard resting on the table in front of her and a nasty look on her face.

"Oh dear god." Muttered Hermione, "She's making notes on the teachers again?" she sat down between Ron and Harry.

Harry frowned, "What do you think she'll do if she realises that our teacher is the brother of a werewolf?"

"Judging by the colourful language my uncle uses to describe her, she probably already knows." Whispered Hermione as Romulus entered the classroom.

Romulus waited for everyone to quieten down; he threw a dirty look at Umbridge and then looked back to the class. "Right, as you know, your exams are coming up in June. As I am setting it I have decided to put in things from your last few years of Defense as well as this year, so we will be doing some revision classes of your last few years from now until the exam." Lavender had her hand in there. "Yeah Lavender?"

"What particular things will we be doing from the last few years?" She asked.

Romulus turned to the blackboard and wrote _Revision Subjects_ across the top, "Well, dark creatures for one-"

"Hem hem."

You'd have to have been blind to miss just how much Romulus tensed up at Umbridge's interruption, his back and shoulders went rigid and it was obvious to the class that he was forcing himself to keep control. He finished writing up _Dark Creatures_ on the board before turning back to the class and Umbridge. "Can I help, Ms. Umbridge?"

Umbridge gave one of her sickly sweet smiles, "Yes, I was wondering if you planned to study werewolves as part of this revision, Professor."

"Oh here we go." Said Hermione, perhaps a little too loudly.

Romulus frowned slightly, "As a matter of fact, I planned on us doing werewolves today. Of course there's no need for you stick around if you dislike the topic."

"Oh no, I will stay."

Romulus gave her a withering look before looking back to his class, "As I was saying, we will be going over Dark Creatures, curses and counter-curses and most importantly, the Unforgivables as they will most definitely crop up in your NEWTs next year." He wrote those up on the board as well. "Is there anything else you guys want to go over in case I overlooked anything?"

"Dark Lords." Called out Seamus.

Romulus nodded and wrote _Dark Lords – Grindelwald and Voldemort_ up on the board. "Anything else?" There were a few murmurs of no from the students so he nodded. "Ok, now like I said, we will be starting on werewolves today. So brainstorm, what do you know about them from previous lessons?"

Dean put up his hand, "We know we were too dim to recognise when we were being taught by one in third year."

Romulus smirked and nodded, "That's a good point. But seriously, what else?"

Hermione put up her hand; "They're not harmful to their mate, their offspring or other animals."

"Very good." Romulus wrote Hermione's answer under the heading of _Werewolves_, which was now on the board. "What else?"

"Hem hem."

Romulus silently groaned, "Yes, Ms. Umbridge?"

"I think you'll find that is not true, Professor." Said Umbridge, still smiling. "Werewolves are known to be vicious beasts."

Ron nervously watched as Hermione's knuckles went white from her tightly clenched fists.

Romulus raised an eyebrow, "Tell me, Ms Umbridge, do you know any werewolves personally?"

"No."

Romulus nodded, "I thought so. However, I do, so it is I who will be saying whether Miss Granger's answer was right or wrong. She was, of course, spot on and I was told that straight from the mouth of a werewolf." That seemed to shut up Umbridge up for now. "Now, what else do we know?"

"The Wolfsbane potion makes them more docile around the full moon."

"Also correct Hermione. Does anyone else want to share their knowledge?" Asked Romulus as he wrote _Wolfsbane potion_ up on the board.

………

By that night, Hermione and the rest of the Gryffindors in her year were all in particularly foul moods and from what Hermione could tell from potions that afternoon, she and her father probably wouldn't get along at all this evening, as they were both rather irritated. And it was all because of Umbridge.

Hermione pulled her winter cloak around her as she walked along the dungeon corridor to the Potions classroom, it was quite chilly this evening but she still wasn't sure why she had to dress warmly. There was a fire in her father's office if they got too cold.

Severus was in his classroom writing something down as he checked on the potion he was brewing, "Wait there."

Hermione stopped in front of his desk and folded her arms, judging by the warm cloak he was wearing it appeared that they would probably be going outside. "Are we going somewhere?"

"Mmhmm." Severus put his quill down and put a few things into his cloak pockets. "Forbidden Forest." He said to Hermione's questioning look.

"Why?" Asked Hermione as she followed him out of the classroom.

"I'll tell you when we're outside."

Once they were outside and half way across the castle grounds, Hermione asked again. "Why?"

"I need to collect some unicorn blood." Replied Severus shortly, he stopped when they got to the edge of the forest and lit his wand. "And as unicorns don't tend to like men-"

"You want me to do it." Finished Hermione for him. Severus nodded before they started into the forest. "I'm sure Hagrid could have just caught one for you…ow!" a branch had just hit her in the face. "Lumos!" The tip of her wand lit up so she could see where she was going now, as Severus walked quite swiftly.

"Unicorns have to trust you before you can take some of their blood." Said Severus, he slowed down a bit so Hermione could catch up to him. But when she did she tripped over a tree root. "Getting awfully clumsy, aren't you?"

"Shut up." Hermione scrambled back to her feet and brushed herself off before she started walking again. "I thought taking blood from a unicorn cursed you?"

"No, no. _Drinking_ unicorn blood will curse you." Replied Severus, "But as its being distilled and put into a potion for a dead man, it shouldn't be too bad. But I am only testing it."

"Oh…what if the centaurs attack us?" Hermione used her wand to light up the sides of the track they were walking along.

"Centaurs do not usually come near…certain people."

Hermione frowned, what was that supposed to mean? But then it clicked in her mind. "…Death Eaters…"

Severus didn't reply straight away, but when he did Hermione nearly missed it because he spoke so quietly. "Exactly."

They walked in silence for about another ten minutes until they came to the edge of a clearing, which was apparently home to quite a few unicorns.

Hermione gasped when she saw them; there were six fully-grown pure white unicorns as well as three golden foals.

Severus crouched down while Hermione gazed doe-eyed at the unicorns, he pulled two vials and a syringe out of his cloak pocket then he tugged Hermione down next to him. "Do you know how to use a syringe?" he asked quietly.

Hermione eyed the syringe warily, she had always hated needles, "I think so yeah…"

Severus put the two vials and the syringe into her hand, "You have to let them trust you first, and I know it sounds stupid but ask if you can take the blood first." Hermione nodded. "The neck is your best bet."

Hermione nodded again, "Ok." She stood up, took a deep breath and then she went out into the clearing after tucking the vials and the syringe into her pocket.

………

It had taken nearly three hours for all the unicorns to trust Hermione completely so that she could take some of their blood, the first time she had tried one of the foals had gotten upset and nearly attacked her. But Hermione had forced herself not run off because having this blood could be the thing that made the _Draught of Life_ ready, and if it worked then Harry would have his father back.

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A/N: Yes Hermione has a fixation with smashing people's faces into various solid objects. And yes, I have finally gotten around to adding more of little Maria into the story. Yey!

It was a long chapter, I was actually going to split it into two again but I decided not to as I'm on a roll today.

Also, you may be wondering why I put Umbridge in. She isn't really there for a purpose except so that I can hurt her. Badly. I know she is very unpopular and I doubt she'd be missed **:-D**

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Next Chapter: The Weasleys Wizard Wheezes arrive for the 6th year Gryffindors. Also, Maria is hurt badly and Umbridge is the prime suspect.


	14. Wrongly Accused

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I own Romulus Lupin and Maria Lupin-Snape.

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Cutieak88: You're right, there is too much Ron/Hermione.

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Yoblossom: He he, Hermione has a fun fixation **:-D** Oh don't worry, I will keep up with the story.

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Im no muggle: Thanks for reviewing!

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Sarahamanda: You will actually find out this chapter why Severus is making the potion to bring James back. But Severus in particular is doing it because he is in the Order, Dumbledore trusts him and he is a very skilled Potions master. Glad you liked it!

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DemiSaiyan: Yes both Harry and Ron fancy Hermione in this story. Glad you liked it!

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ThouandI: Oh yeah, I hate Pansy, Hermione was speaking for me when she called the girl a whore. Glad you like it and fingers crossed about Maria!

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Hobey-ho: He he, I am actually quite proud of this story. To tell you the truth, this story isn't planned ahead or anything, I just write each chapter off the top of my head. I can't stick to plans, that's why.

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Sasami Tombo: Yes, the ending was kind of abrupt I know, but I was falling asleep (no excuse I know, but forgive me!). By all means, use that quote! Woot! A _Beat Up Umbridge_ party sounds fun!

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Frk-werewolf: Ha ha, you're right, Umbridge was very sadistic. But there's only room for two sadistic/semi-sadistic people in my mind and that's Lucius and Severus **:-D** A pissed off werewolf may very well hurt her, you'll have to wait and see. Also, the Harry thing…you are spot on.

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Eve27: I can do more of Severus and Remus. There was actually going to be family time last chapter but it didn't work properly so I got rid of it. But I'll try and put some in soon!

Summer: Thanks! Glad you like it! And I agree, Umbridge is stupid.

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Ginny-and-Draco-fan: Great!

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Brunette89: You know, it took me a few minutes to realise who you were talking about in your review…he he, the Giant Squid might get indigestion from her though…**:-D**

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Goddess of Gorgeousness: He he, questions like that are uncomfortable to answer.

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Fallen Angel of Hell: Don't worry, she won't last much longer.

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I've just realised that both Hermione and Maria are named after Shakespeare characters…well, I knew Hermione was but I didn't think Maria was. We're doing 'Twelfth Night' in English and there's a character called Maria in that.

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Chapter 14:_ Wrongly Accused_

By mid May, Remus was four and a half months pregnant but his baby bump was barely noticeable, which was rather worrying. The fact that the foetus was smaller than normal was a very good sign (or bad depending on how the parent looked at it) that this baby was going to be a werewolf as well, just like Maria.

The pregnant werewolf was currently in the Infirmary having his monthly check up with Madame Pomfrey, he lay on one of the beds staring up at the ceiling pretending to listen to Sirius babble on about something, he wasn't entirely sure what.

"You're not listening to me, are you, Rem?"

Remus blinked, "Hm? What?" He turned his head to look at Sirius. "What were you saying?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Nevermind. Are you all right?" He was no longer as weak or as paralysed as he had been, Dumbledore had practically bullied Severus into making the potion to help him and it was working.

Remus sighed, "No…my baby is a werewolf."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, "How can you tell?"

"It's smaller than it should be at nearly five months along." Replied Remus miserably. The last two times he had gotten pregnant he had been afraid of the baby contracting his lycanthropy, Hermione had been lucky but Maria wasn't and neither was this baby now.

Sirius frowned slightly, "Oh…"

Remus smiled slightly, "Sorry, it probably doesn't bother you much, does it?"

Sirius shrugged, "Well it's not my kid…but you two have managed all right with Maria haven't you? I think you'll be fine, despite how terrible I think your taste in men is."

Remus raised an eyebrow, "I'm not the only one that went after Slytherins, remember?"

"Shut up."

………

In the late afternoon the same day, Hermione headed down to one of the big flat rocks beside the lake where a certain lone blond was sitting. "Hey."

Draco looked up from where he had been staring at the hills on the other side of the lake, "Hi, how are you?"

She sat down beside him and brought her knees up to her chest, "I'm ok…you?"

Draco gave a small shrug, "I've been better…"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him, "What's wrong?"

Draco sighed, "You mean apart from being treated like pond scum by my House mates?" Hermione gave him a stern look that was very reminiscent of McGonagall. "Ok, ok… I got a letter from my father this morning…my parents are divorcing."

"Oh Draco, I'm sorry…"

Draco smirked humourlessly before finally looking at his oldest friend, "I know you, 'Mione, I bet you saw it coming long before I did. I mean, my parents were hardly a match made in heaven, were they?"

Hermione frowned, "True…but…did he give you a reason for it?"

"No…" Draco shook his head, "No, he just said he was writing to inform me of the divorce before I found out through the grapevine or from the papers or something like that. He also said he didn't think that I would be too surprised, and I'm not but still…they could have at least told me in person, couldn't they?"

"Yeah, I know I'd prefer it if I was told in person if my parents were divorcing." Replied Hermione, "Not that they're married, mind you."

Draco gave a grim smile, "You're lucky in that respect, at least you know they're not fighting over who has custody of you."

Hermione moved and put her arms around his shoulders in a hug, "I'd take you home with me if I could." Draco gave her a small smile. She pulled away a little and gazed at him thoughtfully, "You're seventeen now, you don't have to live with either of them if you don't want to."

Draco frowned and picked up a pebble and threw it so it skimmed across the surface of the lake, "If I did move out, what would I do? I don't have a job, I don't like working-"

"There's a shock." Muttered Hermione sarcastically.

"Shut up." Draco heaved a sigh. "Anyway, I wouldn't have a job and who would want to hire me now, after my father's been in Azkaban? I hardly have any money left in my Gringotts vault and I don't have access to my trust fund until I graduate. I'm screwed before I even put anything to action."

Hermione watched thoughtfully as he skimmed another stone across the lake, "Well…" she had just thought of somewhere he could stay in the summer if he really didn't want to be part of a custody battle. She lowered her voice as she spoke again, "There is always the Order Headquarters…I'll probably be going there again this summer, I'm sure Dumbledore would let you stay there as well if there's no where else you want to go."

"Yeah but Potter and Weasley would be there." Stated Draco like it explained everything for why he wouldn't go and stay at the Order Headquarters.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Draco, you three are as bad as each other." Draco gave her a highly offended look. "It's the truth. I understand why they don't like you, you have been a right little shit the last six years, and vice versa, but I think you should put your pasts behind you. I'm sorry but that's the way I feel."

Draco folded his arms almost petulantly, "Oh great, my parents are divorcing, I may decide not to live with either of them and now you're trying to talk me into befriending bloody saint Potter and his Weasel."

Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly; "I will hit you if you continue to insult my friends to my face." Draco glared at her. "I do it to Harry and Ron as well… Anyway, we were discussing what _you_ are going to do in the summer, weren't we?"

Draco folded his arms on his knees and rested his forehead on them, "I just don't know…"

"Well, if you had to decide, who would you prefer to live with? Lucius or Narcissa?"

Draco turned his head so he could see his oldest friend, "Mum is a bit…_suffocating…_especially now with the Dark Lord back, and dad can be a bit of bastard sometimes." He gazed off into the distance in thought. "…I think I would choose dad though, if only for some sense of security. Although-" he abruptly stopped talking when a voice came from behind them.

"Oh look, a Malfoy courting a mudblood, won't your father be happy, Draco?"

Hermione got up at the same time of Draco and made sure she had her hand on her wand if it came to that. Judging by just how quickly Draco reacted she guessed he had been expecting an attack.

"Shut your ugly pug face, Pansy." Snapped Draco, he had his wand out and ready.

Pansy glared at him, "That's right, protect your mudblood girlfriend you blood traitor."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Honestly Parkinson, is _mudblood_ the best you can come up with?" she had her wand out now at her side.

Pansy turned her glare onto Hermione, "How dare you speak to me!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "You're right, I shouldn't speak to you. My IQ may start to drop if I continue talking to a mental defective like yourself."

Draco smirked, that seemed to have shut Pansy up while she tried to work out the insult, "Come on, let's go." He grabbed Hermione by the elbow and dragged her glaring off the rock they had been sitting on.

They had only gone a few metres when one of the group of Slytherins behind them fired a hex.

__

"Incarcerous!"

Hermione spun around as Draco fell to the ground tied up in the magical ropes that had just been conjured in the hex. _"Impedimenta!"_

Blaise Zabini had been mid run when Hermione's jinx hit him; he fell over and was unable to move for several minutes.

"I'll get you, bitch!" Shrieked Pansy, she raised her own wand and pointed it at Hermione. _"Stupe-"_

__

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione was much too quick for the Slytherin.

Pansy's wand was blasted out of her hand and it hit Crabbe right in the eye.

Blaise was up on his feet again, his wand pointed at Hermione. Draco was struggling against his bonds on the ground.

As Hermione and Blaise got ready to blast another jinx or curse at each other a shout from across the grounds caught their attention.

__

"HEY!"

Romulus was sprinting across the grounds to them, he glared between the students when he got there, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"They started it!" Shouted Hermione, though there was no need to shout, as Romulus was only a couple of feet from her. "They attacked while we had our backs turned!"

Romulus looked to the group of Slytherins, "Is that true?" Pansy and Blaise were both glaring at Hermione and Draco, who had now been set free of his restraints. _"Answer me."_

"They insulted us first!" Cried Pansy, suddenly bursting into what were obviously fake tears.

Hermione stared at her in disbelief, "You insulted _us_ first, you bitch, and you know it!"

"Miss Granger, do you keep your voice down, there are first years around." Came a voice from behind them. A voice Hermione wasn't entirely sure she wanted to hear at this moment. "What is going on here?"

Romulus glanced at Severus and then back at the students, "That is what I am trying to find out, Severus. You are all in detention for this anyway, but you may as well own up so the punishment isn't quite so severe."

"They started it." Said Draco glaring at the other Slytherins.

"We did not!" Shouted Blaise, he was still clutching his wand like he would attack.

Hermione sighed; it seemed the Slytherins were going to deny it as much as they could so she felt shouting the truth to the two Professors probably wouldn't help, it would just make her and Draco seem guilty as well. "Draco and I were minding our own business when they turned up and starting sprouting off mudblood remarks. Then we walked away and they attacked while we had our backs turned. We had no choice but to retaliate."

"Very well, I will deal with the students from my House, Lupin." Said Severus; he really could not be doing with this at the moment.

"She's lying!" Shrieked Pansy, all signs of fake tears gone.

Hermione glared at her, "You tried to stun me, you cow!"

Romulus stepped in before the two girls could do anything else, "Hermione, come with me."

"Fine." Just as Hermione started to turn to follow Romulus back to the castle, a flash of light came from Pansy's wand and a gash appeared on Hermione's cheek. "Bitch!"

Hermione spun around and attempted to lunge at Pansy but Romulus caught her around the waist before she could get her hands around the Slytherin's neck. Before anything else could be said Romulus dragged Hermione, struggling like mad, away from the group of Slytherins and their incredibly pissed off Head of House.

"Let go of me!"

"No." Romulus let go of his struggling niece long enough to be able to grab a hold of her arm, he dragged her into the castle and up the grand staircase. "You need to go to the infirmary to have gash sorted out, and _then_ we will be discussing your detention."

"I was defending myself!" Cried Hermione, she was being loud enough to draw Professor McGonagall out of her office.

"What on earth is going here?"

Romulus frowned, "It seems a little spat arose between a group of Slytherins and Hermione," he tightened his grip a little as Hermione tried to pull away again. "I was just taking her to the Infirmary before we discuss her detention."

McGonagall gave Hermione a very stern look, "If you receive anymore detentions after this one, I will be taking away your Prefect badge, do you understand?"

"Yes."

McGonagall nodded then she turned her attention back to Romulus, "And the other students involved are being dealt with, I take it?"

"Yes, Severus turned up just after I stopped the fight." Replied Romulus, "Anyway, we should be going." He gave McGonagall a curt nod and then he dragged Hermione off down the corridor.

"I can walk of my own accord, you know?" Grumbled Hermione a few minutes later when, as they entered the Infirmary.

Remus was in the Infirmary still, spending sometime with Sirius but upon hearing Hermione's irritated voice they both stopped talking.

"I don't care." Replied Romulus; he looked to the matron that had just come out of her office. "Poppy, can you heal this injury, thanks." He turned his attention back to Hermione. "You are in enough trouble as it is."

Hermione stayed silent long enough for Madame Pomfrey to tut around her and heal her wound, but when the matron had finished started talking again. "Why am _I_ the one that's in trouble? That cow started it all."

"That maybe so, but you continued-"

"If Mad-Eye was here he would've turned her into a ferret or something for attacking while we had our backs turned." Argued Hermione, cutting her uncle off mid-sentence.

"Do you two mind? I have patients!" Snapped Madame Pomfrey.

Remus came out from Sirius' cubicle, "What's going on?"

Madame Pomfrey gave a frustrated growl before storming back into her office and slamming the door.

Hermione rubbed her cheek, she had only just realised how much that curse, whatever it was, hurt. "Oh good, maybe you'll believe me."

Remus frowned slightly, "Before you tell me what happened, what have you done with your sister?"

"I left her with Harry and Ron." Replied Hermione dismissively. "I am being wrongly punished."

Romulus sighed and rubbed his forehead, "You probably would have killed her if I hadn't've stopped you."

"Honestly, would you have missed her?"

Remus raised an eyebrow, "Is someone going to tell me what happened?"

"He can." Hermione turned on her heel and headed for the door, only to be stopped by Romulus.

"Oi! We haven't discussed your detention yet."

Hermione growled in frustration just like Madame Pomfrey had, she then proceeded to rip her Prefect badge off her robes and put it on a shelf beside her. "You know what? Suspend me if you want, expel for all I care. I've had enough!" she stormed out of the Infirmary.

Remus rushed out after her leaving Romulus standing in the middle of the room not quite knowing what to do next. But he did know that something must be seriously wrong with his niece if she willingly gave over her Prefect badge, he had heard from Remus that it had been important to her.

"Hermione!"

Hermione stopped in the corridor, her fists clenched, the tears in her eyes were threatening to spill any moment now.

Remus caught up with her and he led her straight into an empty classroom and closed the door. "What has gotten into you lately?"

"I've had enough." She determinedly kept her back to him and her arms folded across her chest.

Remus sighed and sat on a desk, "Enough of what, Hermione? You can talk to me, you know?"

Hermione huffed quietly, "I was under the impression that I shouldn't, in case it aggravated you."

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Dad."

"Ah…" Remus nodded slowly. "'Mione, you know you can come and talk to me. I get more worried when you _don't…_ I know I haven't been the most approachable person this last year, but I do still want to hear what's going on with you."

Hermione sniffed and turned back around to face him, she still had the unshed tears in her eyes, "Fine… I am terrified about Voldemort being back, and after what happened to Sirius, I don't think I want to be around for what's to come…and then having to relive that night when I saw you and dad being tortured," Remus grimaced at the memory. "That just screwed me up even more… And I'm sick of those Slytherins, is a bit of peace too much to ask? Is it too much to ask to go through one day without hearing an insult about a parentage you don't even have?"

Remus sighed and hopped off the desk, "No, it isn't." he moved over to her and placed his hands on her arms. "Is that all that's been bothering you, or is there more?"

Hermione sniffed, "I think that's all…at the moment…" she allowed herself to be pulled into a hug, she buried her head against Remus' chest and decided that she didn't particularly want to leave the safety of her dad's arms for a long while.

………

It was well after dinner when Hermione finally went back to Gryffindor tower, she couldn't be bothered going down to the kitchens to get something to eat, she just wanted to get her sister back to her parents and then go to bed.

"Hey 'Mione." Said Ron when Hermione came over to wear he and Harry were sitting at a table in the corner, doing their homework of all things.

"Hey," Hermione yawned. "Where's Maria?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, "You came and got her about half an hour ago, remember?"

Hermione blinked and stared at him, "No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

Hermione shook her head; "I've been with my dad for the last hour. I haven't seen Maria since I left her with you two before dinner."

Ron raised his eyebrows, "It was you who came and got her…at least…we thought it was you…"

"Oh no…" Hermione chewed her bottom lip worried. "Help me look for her? Please? Do you have the map on you Harry?"

"Yeah." Harry dug into his bag and pulled the map out, he touched his wand to the old parchment and muttered the password before scanning it for any signs of Maria. "Here she is. Outside the Room of Requirement…she's not moving though…"

"Is she on her own?

"Yeah."

"Oh god." With that, Hermione took off out the Common Room with Harry and Ron close behind her.

Hermione sprinted along corridors and up staircases in panic, all she could think was that her little sister was in trouble. If someone came into the common room that looked like her and took Maria away, then it must have been an impostor. Her first thought was a Polyjuice Potion, but how would the person have gotten the ingredients if they had used one? Her father wouldn't let anyone in his office or his storeroom, and he had upped his security after the Crouch incident in her fourth year.

When she reached the corridor hat contained the Room of Requirement, she saw a small figure lying on the floor in front of the tapestry opposite the room entrance. Hermione sprinted along the corridor and skidded to a half near her sister's unconscious body, she fell to her knees in shock and quickly tried to find a pulse as Ron and Harry came thundering down the corridor behind her.

"Oh no…" Hermione tapped Maria's face. "Maria, come on. Wake up! Please…" she trailed off when she saw a huge red mark around her sister's tiny wrist, she carefully examined it and gasped when she realised what it was. "It's a silver burn…get help."

"What?"

"Get help! Now! It could kill her!" Shouted Hermione at her friends. _"Now!"_

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To Be Continued…

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A/N: He he, I'm evil **:-D** Though its not really a laughing matter…

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Next chapter: Help comes. Will Maria be ok? Will the worry this causes Remus cause something to happen to his baby?


	15. Silver Burn

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I don't own incredibly much, except for Romulus and Maria.

**Thank yous:** _NativeMoon, ThouandI, Brunette89, im no muggle, Sarahamanda, cutieak88, Summer, Yoblossom, frk-werewolf, Ginny-and-Draco-fan, CrazedLunatic, Eve27, Goddess of Gorgeousness, Fallen Angel of Hell, Sasami Tombo, PISSED OFF, broken-heart1990, Hobey-ho, Black Panther Wolf, AllyCatHerm19, lilo, Eleonora1, yeah-i love hp too, and we3._

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ThouandI: No it probably wasn't the most appropriate place to leave off, but it was nearly midnight and I had to go to bed (school next day) and I had really wanted to post the chapter. That and I'm just mean and I wanted to leave it hanging. Glad you liked it!

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Cutieak88: A silver burn? Its what happens when a werewolf touches silver, well in my mind that's what happens, I haven't really read up on werewolves or anything, but that's the common belief.

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Yoblossom: He he he, well I'll try not to make something else bad happen, I don't want the angry mob after all **:-P**

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Frk-werewolf: Yes you were right! Teehee, _siriusly…_ He he, I had a feeling you'd pick up on the _'Siri going after Slytherins'_ bit, and once again, you are right, I have that frisky image in my mind too **:-P**

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Ginny-and-Draco-fan: Romulus was introduced into the story during the Christmas chapters as Remus' twin brother. Don't mean to nit pick but its Roman mythology, not Greek.

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Black Panther Wolf: Hermione isn't a werewolf or an Animagus so she won't be changing into any sort of animal to frighten Pansy. What do you mean about the Weasleys?

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Eleonora1: Gosh you give long reviews. The parents that were tortured were Severus and Remus. The Grangers are actually muggle relatives of Remus', as we know he is a half-blood, there might be more about them soon. He he, I don't know why I always have Remus arguing with his family or not speaking to them, its just me. Glad you like the way I portray Lucius!

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Ok, there were too many reviews to individually answer but thank you to you all for reviewing! I hope I haven't missed anyone off the list at the top.

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Chapter 15:_ Silver Burn_

It had been an hour since Hermione, Ron and Harry had found Maria lying unconscious outside the Room of Requirement. The little girl was in the school Infirmary now, both her parents had been informed and Madame Pomfrey was still working on her, it seemed there were far more silver burns on her than just the one on her wrist that Hermione had seen.

Hermione was sitting on one of the hospital wing beds with her legs crossed; she was miserably picking at the blanket on the bed. She felt this was all her fault, she shouldn't have left her sister in the common room, Maria had been her responsibility for the afternoon and she had screwed up big time.

Remus was leaning against the wall beside one of the windows, gazing out at the night sky; he was incredibly pale and extremely worried. A bad silver burn was enough to make him very weak for days, but he had no idea how badly it would hurt a young werewolf like Maria.

Severus had been pacing the infirmary for a good twenty minutes now, a mingled expression of worry and fury on his face. He hadn't said a word since after he had arrived and seen the state his youngest daughter was in, but even then it was only a string of rather profane words. He also hadn't so much as looked in Hermione's direction since he had arrived.

Sirius was still there but he had decided to keep his mouth shut, the last thing he wanted was to annoy Severus Snape further when he was still too weak to defend himself. He soon drifted off to sleep, Madame Pomfrey had had him up and about today and it had exhausted him.

Hermione sighed and got off the bed, the silence was really beginning to get to her. She went over to the window Remus was at and silently put her arms around his waist in a hug, she felt him hug her back and rest his chin on top of her head. She had only come to Remus because unlike Severus, he didn't seem to be silently blaming her for this, but Remus never blamed someone unless he had a cause to. Severus on the other hand, would blame whoever was nearest to him at the time.

…

Meanwhile, Harry, Ron and now Ginny who had been filled in on what had happened, were sitting up in the Sixth Year Boys' Dormitory on Harry's bed with the Marauders Map open between them.

"So, you think whoever did it might still be here?" questioned Ginny as she frowned at the map.

Harry nodded, "Trust us, the map never lies, Gin. Hopefully anyone out of place, if they're still in the school, will show up."

"I bet it was Umbridge," said Ron glaring at the bed. "She'd do anything to get rid of werewolves or Hagrid…"

"You can't jump to conclusions, Ron." Replied Ginny in a near perfect impression of Hermione. "Anyway, why would Umbridge attack a five year old? I didn't think she knew who Maria belonged to anyway."

"She probably found out somehow…remember what she said to Snape last year before she put him on probation?" said Ron moodily. "She said Lucius Malfoy _always spoke highly of him, _so maybe she's been speaking to Malfoy. If anyone knew it would be him."

Harry sighed and spoke quietly, "You heard what Hermione said, Lucius Malfoy is on our side. I mean, if he wasn't he probably would've done some damage to her by now during those Imperius Lessons."

"True."

Ginny was gazing at the map closely, she gasped suddenly, "Oh my god…Peter Pettigrew…"

"_What?!"_

Harry and Ron squabbled over the map until Ginny pulled it off them and pointed to the place where the small sign said Peter Pettigrew was standing in the castle. "He's skulking around outside the infirmary."

Harry's eyes widened, "Of course…" Ron and Ginny both looked to him questioningly. "When Voldemort came back he gave Wormtail a silver hand as a reward…"

"And Maria's a werewolf." Finished Ginny slowly.

"We have to tell someone." Harry jumped up and sprinted out of the dormitory. Ron and Ginny soon followed him.

…

Dumbledore was now in the infirmary to see if Madame Pomfrey had made anymore progress in healing Maria's burns and also to see how the little girl's distressed parents and sister were.

"Calm down?" Repeated Severus disbelievingly. "Both of my children have been attacked in the last few months and you expect me to _calm down?!"_ No one could blame him for shouting at the Headmaster though; he and Remus had just been told Maria might not make it.

Hermione blocked out her father's ranting and raving and gazed at the floor of the infirmary, she let her eyes wander under the beds on the opposite side of the infirmary. She was so deep in thought about her sister that she nearly didn't see the plump brown rat that was peeping out from behind the leg of one of the beds. It didn't register in her head until a few seconds later, as she did a double take she saw it scurry across to another bed leg, she saw something glimmer at its front end. "…Oh my god…" she glanced around at the adults and noticed that none of them were paying her the slightest bit of attention, so she got up off the bed she had been sitting and crept slowly over to the bed that the rat was currently under.

Remus, at the moment, was sitting beside Maria's bed refusing to speak to anyone, his irate lover in particular because they would no doubt start arguing, they always did when bad things happened and especially when it involved their children. He just couldn't believe it, who in their right mind would attack a harmless, innocent five year old? What had his little girl done to deserve nearly being killed? The only person he could think of that would know Maria was a werewolf _and_ want to get rid of her, was Umbridge, she had worked at the Ministry and she knew about him so she had to know his daughter was a werewolf as well. The only other person he could think of was Wormtail, he knew the man had been given a silver hand by Voldemort upon his return, but as far as he knew, the rat knew nothing of Maria. But of course, he couldn't be sure what Lucius said at Death Eater gatherings.

Romulus was talking to Madame Pomfrey when he noticed his niece under one of the infirmary beds, holding something furry down with her hands, "Hermione, what are you doing?" Everyone else in the infirmary turned to her and raised their eyebrows curiously.

"Rat hunting," replied Hermione, she kept a tight grip on the brown rat and rolled out from under the bed and got back to her feet. She held onto its tail tightly and held it out in front of her, "My sister's attacker."

Remus was back on his feet now and glaring murderously at the rat in his oldest daughter's hand, he attempted to move towards it but he felt Severus grab his arms and hold him still. "Let go of me!"

"Don't be stupid, Remus." Muttered Severus as he kept his tight grip on Remus, who was obviously attempting to try and murder the rat, if only he could get to it.

Dumbledore took the rat off Hermione and examined it, "Are you positive this is Pettigrew, Hermione?" he examined the silver paw closely.

"Yeah."

"Very well." Dumbledore aimed his wand at the rat and a jet of light shot out of it. He let go of the rat as it started to squeak and grow like a sped up film of a growing tree. Within seconds, Peter Pettigrew was cowering in the middle of the circle of people that was made up of Remus, Severus, Hermione, Dumbledore, Romulus and Madame Pomfrey. "Hello Peter, we have not seen you for some time."

Peter looked around the circle of people in horror, his eyes then darted to all the possible exits he could see, but he didn't dare move, he knew he was in for it.

Remus made another attempt at trying to get to Pettigrew, but Severus had an almost bruising grip on his upper arms.

It was then that Lucius walked into the Infirmary. The blond man stopped dead upon seeing Pettigrew on his knees in the middle of the circle of murderous looking people, he merely raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Well, well Wormtail, cocked up again I see?"

Peter turned towards Lucius and pointed a silver finger at the blond, "You! You traitor! I was doing the job you messed up!" he shrieked, but it didn't seem to be having any affect on Lucius who continued to regard him coolly. "Our Lord is very angry!"

Lucius casually rested his hands on the top of his cane, "Not as angry as he'll be when he finds out you've been caught and possibly murdered by the family of the child you just tried to kill."

"How do you know what happened?" Questioned Dumbledore suspiciously. Though Lucius was his only remaining spy within Voldemort's circle he still wasn't entirely certain about the man.

"There's a group of anxious Gryffindors in the corridor," replied Lucius nodding towards the Infirmary door. "They said they saw Wormtail here on a map or something."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, "When we looked for Maria on there we couldn't see anybody out of the ordinary…"

Lucius smirked again, "You left the school and came back, Wormtail?"

Peter stuttered his reply, "W-what's y-y-your p-point?"

Lucius opened his mouth to reply but he went motionless upon seeing Sirius appear curiously from inside his cubicle.

"You!" The curiosity disappeared from Sirius' face and was instantly replaced by a look of absolute fury upon seeing Peter on his knees in the middle of the Infirmary. He started to lunge at Pettigrew but Romulus grabbed him around the waist and by one arm to hold him back, just like Severus was doing with Remus. "Let me at him!"

Hermione glanced around at the adults, Madame Pomfrey was standing there in shock, and Lucius was practically frozen to the spot his eyes fixed unblinkingly on Sirius. Dumbledore was surveying Pettigrew silently down his long nose, Romulus, who looked rather confused, had loosened his grip a little on Sirius who had already given up on struggling but he was glaring darkly at his former friend. And Severus, who had fixed a very nasty look on Pettigrew, was still holding Remus (who was still struggling wildly against his bonds) tightly.

Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't entirely sure what to do, she really wanted to attack and inflict pain up on Pettigrew for harming her little sister, but then she thought that if he was hurt or killed then Sirius would never be set free. Harry deserved to have his Godfather free and able to look after him.

Dumbledore finally broke the silence, he turned to Romulus first, "Romulus, please set up protective wards around the Infirmary so that _certain_ people can not get in, then will you go to the Ministry and find Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks. Alert them of Pettigrew's arrival." Romulus nodded, he hesitantly let Sirius go and headed out of the infirmary. "Severus, do you still have a supply of veritaserum?"

"Yes." Severus' voice was a bit strained; he was getting quite exhausted from trying to hold Remus still. "Its in my…storeroom."

"Good." Dumbledore turned his attention to Hermione. "Hermione, will you go and get the veritaserum from Severus' storeroom, then find Professor McGonagall and bring her here."

Hermione, like Romulus, hesitated before nodding and leaving the Infirmary. Almost as soon as she had left she was hounded by Ron, Harry and Ginny, who had been watching keenly as Romulus set up the wards.

"What's happening?"

"Is she ok?"

"Are you ok?"

"We saw Wormtail-"

"On the map!"

Hermione held up her hand, "Guys, I know, I have to go. I'll find you later." With that, she took off down the corridor as quickly as she could; she had nearly made it to the dungeons when Professor McGonagall stopped her.

"Granger! No running!"

Hermione skidded to a halt in front of McGonagall, panting, "Professor Dumbledore…wants to see you in the Infirmary…"

"Why? What happened?" Questioned McGonagall curiously.

Hermione tried to catch her breath, and she lowered her voice, "Peter Pettigrew, he's in the Infirmary, I think he attacked my sister… I have to get dad's veritaserum." After McGonagall nodded, she ran off into the dungeons and straight to the Potion master's storeroom.

……

By the time Hermione had gotten back to the Infirmary, the roles had changed, it was now Severus being held back from Pettigrew by Lucius and Sirius, and McGonagall had her wand trained on the Potions Professor. Pettigrew had been stunned by the looks of it, Madame Pomfrey was rushing backwards and forwards from her supply cabinet and the cubicle next to Maria's, and Remus was no where to be seen.

"What happened?"

"Ah, you have the veritaserum?" Asked Dumbledore. Hermione nodded and handed the Headmaster a small vial full of clear liquid. Dumbledore pointed his wand at Pettigrew, "Enervate." He crouched down in front of Pettigrew, who was quite dazed. The old Headmaster tipped three drops of veritaserum into Pettigrew's mouth and made sure he swallowed it before he started questioning the balding man.

……

It was well after midnight and Harry, Ron and Ginny were still up in the common room, waiting for Hermione to make an appearance. Earlier, they had seen Romulus come back from somewhere with Kingsley and Tonks so they assumed Pettigrew would be taken into the Ministry soon. They couldn't really find out anything from the Marauders' Map, all that told them was where everyone was placed in the Infirmary. From the last look at it, Hermione seemed to be beside a wall, Remus was completely dormant not far away from Maria's bed and Snape, Lucius Malfoy and Sirius seemed to be in a huddle, they weren't quite sure they wanted to know what that was about. Dumbledore was in the middle of the room with Pettigrew.

Ginny yawned, "What do you reckon is happening?"

Before either of the boys could answer, the portrait opened and Hermione appeared looking pale and absolutely awful.

"Hey…" Ginny was on her feet first and she went and hugged Hermione. "Are you ok? What about Maria?"

Hermione sniffed and sat down in one of the armchairs, "I suppose you want the rundown, right?"

Ginny looked to the boys and then back to Hermione, "If you want to tell us."

Hermione sighed, "Pettigrew has been taken into custody by Kingsley and Tonks. Once the Wizengamot questions him again under veritaserum, then Sirius will mostly likely be free. Maria is, as far as I can tell, in a coma. And just to screw everything up even more, Pettigrew attacked my dad and burnt him with his silver hand and caused him to miscarry the baby."

"Moony was pregnant?"

"Oh…" Hermione rubbed her forehead, "I forgot I hadn't told you guys yet. _Was_ being the operative word, dad was trying to kill Pettigrew after that happened, the only thing that stopped him was Lucius and Sirius who practically had to tackle him to the ground." She yawned into her hand. "I need to sleep, I'll talk to you guys in the morning."

"Night 'Mione."

"Night."

"Goodnight Hermione."

…

Severus was sitting silently in an armchair between the beds of his daughter and his lover. Remus was fast asleep, he had been given a Dreamless Sleep Potion so he could have peaceful rest, the evening had been trying on all of them, even more so on Remus now that he had miscarried. And in the bed to his left, was Maria, the little girl barely looked alive, in fact if it weren't for the slight upward movement of her chest Severus could have sworn she had stopped breathing all together.

Why did this stuff always have to happen to him and his family? Could they not have at least a little break? Of course, he knew while the Dark Lord was still around then everything would probably just get progressively worse from here. Though Severus was fairly certain that things would get worse for him without the Dark Lord's help, Dumbledore had decided to administer the Draught of Life to James Potter at the beginning of the summer. And with both Black and Potter back he knew he would be in for a hell of a time, it wouldn't matter what Remus said to any of them, old grudges died hard.

Severus sighed and sunk back into the chair, closing his eyes to get some sleep before he had to teach in a few hours. Sure, Dumbledore had told him he didn't have to work the next day but he needed something to keep himself from worrying too much.

As the exhaustion from holding back an aggressive werewolf and the fighting off of Lucius and Sirius that he had done himself took over, Severus allowed himself one last thought.

__

Perhaps this is all just a terrible dream…

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A/N: Ah! I'm sorry it took so long to update! I would've done it earlier in the week but wouldn't let you upload, I'm sure you all understand!

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Next Chapter: (Skipping ahead, I know,) It's the beginning of the summer. Draught of Life. Sirius' freedom. How is Maria? What about Remus? Will Twelve Grimmauld Place be occupied again?


	16. Draught of Life

**Late One Night**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own incredibly much, though I really wish I did.

**Thank yous:** _anna, ThouandI, yoblossom, orlin, Sarahamanda, iamtherealmaverick, we3, Goddess-Hope, Sasami Tombo, Fallen Angel of Hell, Goddess of Gorgeousness, Diggingupophelia, im-a-daydream-believer, halfblood princess and summer, Hobey-ho, catseye348, and Joji Sada._

**ThouandI:** I only realised the connection when I read an old Mugglenet Editorial, not that I wanted to admit that he could use his silver hand against Remmie though…

**Goddess-Hope:** For the answers to your questions, read on!

**Diggingupophelia:** I'm glad you enjoyed your first trip into the Sev/Rem world! Hehe, you're right, even gay, Severus is possibly the hottest teacher at Hogwarts :-D

**Im-a-daydream-believer:** Actually, I thought the hand was some other form of silvery coloured metal, but now I'm starting to believe that it really is silver…

**catseye348:** The only stories I've read where Severus has some sort of family, are usually the ones where Harry is actually his son, instead of James'.…………………………………………………………………………………...

Yes Remus' miscarriage was sad, and I am mean, but you know, if he and Severus accidentally do the dirty near the full moon again, another kid could be in the making.

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**One more note:** _JK Rowling has recently posted on her website that Hermione was nearly twelve when she entered Hogwarts so in accordance with this story (mainly Draco's birthday) she is older than Harry, Ron and Draco. If I have said she is younger in past chapters then ignore that; I will go back and look through them to check anyway. So she was nearly a year old when Harry was born. _**According to that, at the place this story is at, Hermione is nearly eighteen.**

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**Chapter 16:**_ Draught of Life_

Hermione was sitting at the dining room table in Snape Manor when her father stumbled in one morning, "Where have you been you dirty stop out?"

Severus yawned into his hand, "Not that its any of your business, but Hogwarts." He yawned again, he was so tired, and even though it was the summer holidays now he still wasn't getting much sleep, with all the Order work he was doing as well as visiting his youngest daughter at Hogwarts. "Anyway, get dressed you have to come to the Headquarters with me…" he trailed off into another yawn before leaving the dining room.

Hermione looked down at herself; she was still in her pyjamas even though it was nearly midday. She got up, stretched and then headed off to the staircase to her bedroom on the third floor.

Though Severus and his father had never gotten along, the Snape heir was still given his father's manor upon the man's death. He had let his mother stay there with himself, Remus and the then baby Hermione right up until she died, when Hermione was about three years old.

Snape manor was a massive place, it was much bigger than Twelve Grimmauld Place, but it wasn't quite on par with the Malfoy Estate, as Lucius quite often pointed out. Hermione's bedroom was on the third floor; she was on the same floor as her parents because the master bedroom had been placed on the third floor. But her bedroom was at the opposite end of the manor to her parents' because they quite often 'forgot' Silencing Charms when they were doing the dirty.

And though Remus did not look like a man that truly did live in such luxury, he had done since he was eighteen years old. The main reason for his extra shabby appearance was to just keep up the appearance of being an unemployed werewolf, after all, many wouldn't believe that he had shacked up with the remaining heir to one of the oldest wizarding families. It was still against his morals and his pride to splurge Severus' inheritance money on pointless material objects though, but Hermione was quite happy to do that for him.

……

"I think its stupid that they won't let you two into the Order meetings now," grumbled Ron. He, Harry, Ginny, Fred and George had been kicked out of the kitchen once again so that an Order Meeting could take place. They were all up in the room where Buckbeak was kept.

Ginny ran her fingers through Buckbeak's feathers as she replied, "You heard what mum said, they take qualified wizards. Fred and George both left Hogwarts before they could graduate with their NEWTs."

Fred shrugged, "Yeah well, we can put our talents to better things now, can't we?" Ginny rolled her eyes. "You're turning into mum, you know that?"

"Yeah Gin."

"Shut up."

George snorted, "Anyway, didn't you hear you complaining when the sixth years put in an order for our stuff to get rid of Umbridge."

"Didn't work though, did it?" replied Ginny, "Oh god, what's to bet she'll be back again in September?"

Harry was about to grumble out a reply when the door opened and Hermione appeared, "Hey Mione."

"Hey guys," Hermione came into the room and closed the door. "How are you?" She got a mixture of bored and grumbled replies.

"What are you doing here?" Asked Ron curiously.

"Nice to see you too, Ron." Hermione sat down on the floor against a wall. "Dad didn't want to leave me at home alone so he brought me here with him, despite the fact that he left me home alone all of last night… So, what have you been doing since the summer started?"

"Cleaning this hell hole again."

Hermione wrinkled her nose; "I'm glad I chose to go home then. How's Sirius enjoying freedom?"

Harry shrugged, "Not sure, he hasn't really mentioned it much, which is a bit odd. He hasn't left this place yet, either, despite how much he wanted to."

"Maybe he doesn't quite believe it's really happened yet," suggested Hermione thoughtfully. "But I suppose once it finally does sink in, you can get away from the Dursleys forever, right?"

"That's the plan." Harry grinned. "What would be good, is if he goes and tells them what's going to happen. I would pay good money to see the looks on their faces when the mass murderer from Television turns up on their doorstep."

Everyone else laughed and nodded in agreement.

"What have you been up to since school finished?" Ron gazed at Hermione intently.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him; the way he and Harry had been looking at her recently was really beginning to worry her. She decided she would have to ask Ginny about it, to see if she had noticed as well. "Not much, did my homework, been to see Maria, that's about it."

"How is she?"

Hermione sighed, "She's awake. Poor thing can't move much though, and there's a full moon on Friday, its going to be hell for her." She had never been this worried about her sister before, because her parents had always been there for the little girl. But now, she could tell that both Severus and Remus were starting to fall apart at the seams, she was worried that they'd both crack under the pressure and the stress of this war sooner or later.

Ginny frowned, she could see that this subject was a bit touchy for Hermione, so she decided to change the topic quickly. "Anyway, what do you reckon is going to happen to Pettigrew now?"

"Moony wants him put down," said Hermione smirking. She had taken to calling Remus 'Moony' in front of her friends now, so that it didn't confuse them too much every time she said 'dad'.

"I could agree with that," said Harry seriously.

"You know what," started George, "We overheard mum and dad talking about that after he had been caught."

"You _overheard_ them?" Hermione raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Ok, we were eavesdropping," continued Fred, "But anyway, they mentioned something about Dumbledore not letting the Aurors kill him or giving him to the remaining Dementors yet, so that someone else that would particularly like a word with him could…well, have a word with him."

Hermione gazed at Fred thoughtfully for a moment, _Ah so that's the plan. He's going to let James have a go at Pettigrew before they do away with him._ "Fair enough. I wonder who it is."

"Yeah, we thought it was Sirius, but he's already been to the Ministry holding cells to attack Pettigrew," said Ron, "He was nearly arrested for it."

"Clever."

"Everyone we can think of that would want to hurt Wormtail even more has already done so," said Ginny thoughtfully. "But there could be more people that were close to your parents though, right Harry?"

"Could be, but I've never heard Sirius or Remus mention anyone else," replied Harry. "Have you, Hermione?"

Hermione thought for a moment, "Moony never really mentioned many other friends, I mean, your mum must've had close friends as well. I'm sure they'd probably want revenge."

"Mm, I might ask Sirius sometime."

The six teenagers continued talking for a while longer until they were interrupted by Romulus opening the door.

"Hermione, you have to come with me."

Hermione pulled a face, "Why?"

Romulus rolled his eyes, "Don't be too cheerful about it." The others snickered. "By order of your father, whom I do not plan on disobeying because he scares me, I have to take you home and keep an eye on you."

Hermione grumbled and got to her feet, "I can look after myself."

"Death Eaters, hun, I don't think you'd be able to hand yourself against a group of them," replied Romulus, he needed towards the hallway. "Come on. I'll see you lot some other time."

"Bye!"

"See you, guys." With that, Hermione traipsed out of Buckbeak's room and followed her uncle along the hallway to the stairs. "What's dad doing then?"

"He's talking with Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus about something," replied Romulus shortly. "It may take a while."

Hermione hesitated before ploughing forward with a hunch she had just gotten, "The Draught of Life, right?"

Romulus stopped dead and turned to her, "How did you know about that?"

"I snuck a look at dad's notes in his office one night, and he caught me at it," she replied confidently. Hermione could tell that Romulus thought they had been listening in on the meeting, mind you, with Fred and George around, the adults had a reason to be suspicious. "I've been taking down his notes and helping him collect ingredients and stuff. I know it's for Harry's dad, and no, I haven't told anybody, especially not Harry."

Romulus looked a little unsettled but he quickly got over that, "Ok…make sure you don't mention it as well. Its possible it might not even work."

Hermione frowned, "I witnessed some of the tests dad did on animals with it, it brought them all back to life… Anyway, if we're not meant to mention this where someone can hear, why are we talking about it right here in the hallway?"

"Shut up and walk."

………

It was late that afternoon now; Romulus and Hermione were in the middle of a heated game of Chess and an argument about Quidditch, of all things, when Remus entered the living room the two were occupying looking absolutely awful.

Hermione flicked one of Romulus' pawns off the chessboard, "The Chudley Cannons are terrible, you dimwit, or have you not noticed that?"

Romulus laughed, "Ooh, feisty, aren't we?" he looked over at Remus just as his brother fell into an armchair and yawned. "How did it go?"

Remus yawned again, "All right, Sirius was shocked, but that's to be expected." He turned his eyes accusingly towards Hermione. "And you, why didn't you tell me about this Draught of Life?"

Hermione shrunk down into her chair a little, "Dad swore me to secrecy…"

"That's never stopped you from talking in the past."

"He said he'd lock me in one of the old torture chambers in the Hogwarts dungeons and leave me there to rot if I told anybody," replied Hermione pouting a little. "And I wouldn't put it passed him either."

"No, neither would I."

Remus gave them both a very dirty look before standing up again, "I'm going to go and get some rest." He left the room and headed off upstairs.

Hermione bit her bottom lip guiltily, "I think we upset him…"

"I think we did." agreed Romulus quietly.

……

Remus headed into the master bedroom of the manor, Severus was already up there and by the looks of it, he had passed out already. The dark haired man was sprawled out on his stomach in a simple white shirt and black trousers, his breathing was quite slow so Remus assumed that he was asleep as he pulled off his own robes.

"Are you going to continue ignoring me, or do I have to beg for forgiveness before you speak to me again?"

Remus turned to Severus and saw that his lover was watching him out the corners of his eyes now, "I'm not ignoring you, I'm just annoyed that you didn't feel the need to tell me about this thing. I mean, you let Hermione in on it and-"

"She was sneaking through my notes," interrupted Severus, he lifted his head and propped it on his hands. "Anyway, if I had told you, would you honestly have kept it a secret from Black?"

Remus hesitated, "I…well…I mean…" he sighed. "No."

Severus raised his eyebrows slightly, "My point exactly. Dumbledore did not want anyone to get their hopes up in case it didn't work, and of course, I would be at fault again in Potter's eyes if it didn't work, because I was the one that created the potion in the first place."

"Since when have Harry's feelings ever mattered to you?" asked Remus, as he sat down on the bed beside Severus.

"They don't." Severus rested his forehead on his arms, "But he has a knack of turning Hermione against me."

Remus absentmindedly played with some of Severus' hair, "I'm not going to be sympathetic, you do bring that up on yourself." Severus huffed. "Why would you think he's turning Hermione against you? She adores you."

"I have my reasons."

Remus frowned, he could see he wasn't going to get anywhere with this discussion, so he changed the subject. "So, this potion…it will work, won't it?"

"You doubt my potion making skills?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Of course I don't, but you haven't tested it on a human, have you? You can't be positive that it will work on a man."

Severus grumbled and rolled onto his back, he propped himself up on his elbows and scowled at Remus, "Have some faith in it, will you? I may not like whom it is meant for, but I have made sure that it will work. That and it is hard to find a person willing to be a test subject for something that will only work if they are dead."

"I'm sure there are some people crazy enough to volunteer," replied Remus seriously.

Severus raised an eyebrow, "Like our daughter you mean?" Remus' expression turned to one of surprise. "She did volunteer, but I didn't think you would appreciate it if I took her up on the offer."

Remus shook his head; "No I wouldn't have… And see, there's another example of why Harry _isn't_ turning her against you. She obviously has a lot of trust in you if she was willing to be a test subject."

Severus smirked, "Either that or she's spending too much time with Lucius."

"He is brighter than you give him credit for," said Remus, he got up and headed into the bathroom. "Are you two still going to be giving 'Mione her lessons this summer?"

"Hadn't thought about it, to be honest," mumbled Severus, he was starting to fall asleep.

………

"Morning…" yawned Hermione as she stumbled into the kitchen the next day.

"Afternoon," replied Severus, he was pouring over the Daily Prophet on the table with his customary cup of black coffee.

Hermione fell down into a chair and Crookshanks immediately jumped on her lap for a fuss, she glanced up at the clock and yawned again, "I thought you were going to wake me early?"

Remus poured her coffee; "We only got up an hour ago. Rude awakening, mind you."

Hermione opened her mouth to question his last statement but upon hearing another voice from somewhere in the bottom of the manor, her question was answered.

"What rooms did you say, Remus?"

Remus sighed, "Any on the second floor!"

Hermione gazed blankly between her parents; "You weren't going to tell me, were you?"

Severus raised an eyebrow, "We didn't know until we got up, why do you deserve forewarning?"

"Because I'm your daughter and you love me," Hermione sipped her coffee. "Why?"

"Are they here?" replied Remus to Hermione's question. His daughter nodded and cuddled her cat protectively. "My mother does not seem to think that we can cope, or something to that effect."

Hermione pulled a face, "Cope with what? I mean, its not like you're both going round the twist or anything…well, not yet."

Remus leaned back in his chair and folded his arms; "I'm inclined to think that the news about Maria and my miscarriage has finally reached her."

Hermione raised her eyebrows slightly, that was the first time she had heard Remus mention his miscarriage since it had happened. Other people had mentioned it to him since but it had only served to upset him. "Can I move back into Grimmauld Place, please?"

Remus smirked, "Anyone would think you didn't enjoy your extended family's company."

"Oh yeah, I just can't get enough of it," said Hermione sarcastically. "How long are they staying?"

"I would think until you two go back to Hogwarts," replied Remus. If there was one thing that really did annoy him, it was his mother's domineering protectiveness over him. He hadn't minded it to start with after he had been bitten because he had only been young then, but as he had grown older she got worse. All she did was boss him around, and she hadn't let him go and see his friends in the summers away from Hogwarts, on top of that, now that he was an adult she kept criticising the way he raised his children or the man he chose to be with. He loved his mother, he really did, but she could just be so irritating sometimes, and when she decided to call for a visit his sisters and their families tagged along, and his three sisters were just as bad. Romulus was the only family member he really got along with, but even then the two of them fought a lot. His nephews and nieces were also very annoying when they were around, in fact, he didn't think his own girls were that bad. Maria was extremely quiet and well behaved for a five-year-old, and Hermione talked a lot and she was rather pedantic but then so was he and Severus. "Then hopefully they will go back to their own little lives." He got up and headed for the door. "Try not to make anyone cry, you two."

"Well I won't have to make anyone cry if they stay away from me," muttered Hermione after Remus had left the kitchen. The last time she had seen her cousins they had annoyed her greatly, especially the oldest of them who would be about sixteen now.

"I don't think you have much choice there," said Severus from behind his paper. He had kept quiet because he knew if he said something derogative about Remus' family, it would only serve to upset his lover. Remus on the other hand, would quite happily insult his own family; its just no one else was allowed to. "You aren't busy tonight, are you?"

"Nope. Why?"

Severus finally looked over the top of his paper to his daughter, "The Draught of Life, its being administered tonight."

Hermione squealed, "You're letting me come?"

"It's only fair, you did help, after all."

Hermione grinned and hugged her father, knocking Crookshanks growling loudly off her lap in the process. "Thanks!"

Severus smirked as he watched Hermione bounce happily out of the kitchen; it didn't take much to excite her, especially if she was able to witness something that had never been done before.

………

That night at Twelve Grimmauld Place Sirius was getting ready to go somewhere, not that anyone knew where though.

"Where are you going?" asked Harry curiously.

"That Harry, is none of your business."

Harry frowned at his Godfather, "Why not? Don't I deserve to know where you keep disappearing to?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow, there were a lot of curious faces watching him, "I'll tell you eventually, but not now. And I'm not going to where I usually go to tonight, anyway. Also, what's happening tonight will benefit you greatly, Har, I assure you."

"I'm confused now."

"You're not the only one," agreed George.

"And now I must go, I'll see you guys later," said Sirius before he left the kitchen of Twelve Grimmauld Place.

……

"I didn't know Hogwarts had a cemetery…" commented Hermione as she followed her parents to that particular part of Hogwarts.

"I thought you'd read Hogwarts: A History," replied Remus questioningly.

"I have…maybe I should read it again."

They soon got to the school's cemetery where Dumbledore was waiting for them with Sirius at his side.

"What's she doing here?" asked Sirius upon seeing Hermione.

_"She_ has a name," replied Hermione in slight offense.

Dumbledore had the usual twinkle in his eyes, "It is my understanding that Hermione has helped with some of the potion making, am I right, Severus?" Severus nodded. "Right well, I suppose we should excavate the coffin now."

Dumbledore went over to the gravestone that had _James Potter_ engraved into it, he pointed his wand at the ground and muttered something. The ground shook a little as the dirt started to vanish and an ornate oak coffin started to rise out of the ground.

Hermione wrinkled her nose slightly as the coffin settled down on the ground next to the big hole, "Its been nearly sixteen years, wouldn't his body be a bit…decayed by now?"

Sirius frowned and then he looked to Dumbledore, "That's a fair point actually, Dumbledore."

Ignoring Severus' mutter about 'stupid Gryffindors', Dumbledore answered, "After James' body was taken out of the ruins of the house, I had it placed under a charm that would stop the decay of time. So now he will still be in the state of someone that has only passed away in the last few hours."

"Cool."

Remus and Sirius both gave Hermione funny looks.

"What?"

"Morbid little madam, aren't you?"

"Hell yeah."

Severus had already removed the lid of James' coffin, and he was digging through his pockets and pulling out various vials and a few other things. He wasn't that fond of being around dead bodies, especially the dead body of someone he wasn't too fond of.

Sirius and Remus had moved over to James' coffin to watch closely at what Severus was doing. In the meanwhile, Hermione had crouched down in front of a plaque on the ground and wiped the dust and dirt off it.

Lily Evans-Potter

Loving wife, mother and friend.

May she rest in peace.

Hermione frowned a little, and her natural curiosity took over once again, "Why doesn't Lily have a gravestone?"

Dumbledore went over to where the teenager was, "Lily requested that she be cremated upon death, which is also why we can only use this potion on James." Hermione looked up at him. "She enjoyed the ocean, which is where she asked for her ashes to be scattered."

"What exactly does that do?" questioned Sirius; he was practically shadowing Severus who was getting more and more agitated at the constant questioning.

Severus ground his teeth together, "Black, if you do not get out of my light, I will be jamming this syringe into your eye socket." Sirius moved away quickly and stood on the other side of Remus. "And if you must know, this vial of potion will get his blood circulating again without his heart pumping it."

"Oh…"

After he had administered the Circulation Potion to the dead body, Severus waited a few minutes for it to take affect before he started looking for a suitable vein in one of James' arms.

Unbeknownst to the people in the cemetery, they were being watched by someone from the bushes and trees surrounding it.

Hermione shuddered and looked away from the coffin when she saw her dad push the sharp needle of the syringe into James' arm. She really did hate needles, and seeing them being put into people or feeling them being put into her made her very squeamish. She walked over to the edge of the cemetery so that she didn't get curious enough to watch what the syringe was doing. She heard a few twigs break in the vegetation but she didn't really pay it much notice.

Over at the coffin, Severus sat back on his haunches waiting for the telltale signs that his potion was working on the prone body of James Potter. He hated failing so he was rather hoping that his potion would bring this man back to life, despite the fact that he hated the man.

And then it happened, a whitish glow started to appear around James' body.

"It's working," said Severus before he lifted James' arm and felt for a pulse on the man's wrist. It took a few moments for him to find it, as it was so weak. "There is a very weak pulse there."

Before anything else was said the four men surrounding James' coffin heard Hermione shriek and then they heard the groan of a man. They spun around to see Lucius Malfoy stumble out of the bushes holding his nose.

"What the-"

"Bloody 'ell 'Ermione…"

Hermione quickly covered her mouth to muffle her giggling.

……

A little while later, everyone was in the Hogwarts Infirmary. James had been levitated onto a bed where Poppy Pomfrey (ever the hard worker) injected a Rejuvenating Serum into his blood stream. After that she had to tend to the bloody nose of Lucius Malfoy.

"Do you have no respect for your elders?" questioned Lucius once he was able to speak properly again.

Hermione snorted, "You snuck up on me in a dark graveyard, what did you expect me to do? I was protecting myself." She rubbed the knuckles of her right hand, which did hurt a little, but probably not as much as Lucius' face did. "Not the first time I've punched a Malfoy…"

"What were you doing here anyway, Lucius?" asked Dumbledore suspiciously.

Lucius gingerly touched his nose, "Sirius mentioned this potion…I was curious."

Severus was forcing himself not to laugh at the fact that the one and only Lucius Malfoy was nearly knocked out by a teenage girl. Remus wasn't entirely sure whether he should reprimand Hermione for smacking an adult in the face or whether he should laugh. Sirius had already had a good laugh at the blond's expense and now he was sitting beside James' bed.

Hermione on the other hand was glancing back and forth thoughtfully between Lucius and Sirius, putting two and two together from the clues she had been picking up since Pettigrew's capture. Then she gasped, she'd figured it out, "You and Sirius are shagging."

Sirius snickered at the dumbstruck look on Severus' face; it was obvious he hadn't figured it out, "Putting it bluntly, yes."

"This is going to bruise," said Lucius to no one in particular. Ever the narcissist he wasn't too fond of having something like a big bruise on his normally flawless face. He fixed Hermione with a cold look.

"I am not apologising for something that could have been avoided had you _not_ snuck up behind me," with that, Hermione went over to her little sister's bed to see if all the commotion had woken the five year old up.

Sirius looked to Dumbledore, "When are we telling Harry?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment, "I think it would be best to leave it until James is better recovered," he looked to Severus. "Do you have a rough idea of how long it will take?"

Severus folded his arms and leaned against a wall, "Not really, it took about an hour and a half for a mouse to recover adequately but as there is a rather big size difference, it could be any amount of time. My estimated time for him to wake up would be around a week, a time for him to recover fully would be hard to predict."

"Very well, we will wait until he wakes up before we decide when to tell Harry," said Dumbledore finally.

Very soon everyone started to leave the Infirmary, Maria in tow this time (with Severus carrying her), as the full moon was only a couple of days away and she would probably be able to handle it better in familiar surroundings. Hermione was still giggling over decking Lucius and Sirius had high-fived her for the achievement.

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**A/N:** How was that? Long enough for ya? Oh yes, and the reasons for James' ressurection will be explained soon.

**Next Chapter:** More on Maria and James' respective recoveries. Severus, Remus and Hermione are invited for dinner to the Malfoys'and Remus and Lucius have something up their sleeves. Also, the Lupin clan.


	17. Lupin Annoyance

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I do not own incredibly much, except for Maria and the rest of the Lupin clan.

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Thank yous: _Sarahamanda, honeyduck, im-a-daydream-believer, ThouandI, orlin, Goddess-Hope, Enchantress10, yoblossom, Athena Dumbledore, iamtherealmaverick, Hobey-ho, Goddess of Gorgeousness, im no muggle, Fallen Angel of Hell, lotrobsession, panterastar, Joji Sada, Sasami Tombo, 4¸236718423, Wilting Rose 08,_ _hahaha-evil,_ and _MajinSakuko._

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Enchantress10: Check back to Chapter 14 where it tells you that Lucius and Narcissa are divorced (voiced by Draco). And there will be no threesome in this between Ron, Harry and Hermione. Ew.

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Goddess-Hope: Well, obviously James will be distraught that his wife is dead, but he will be happy that Voldemort didn't kill his son.

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Sarahamanda: James died when Hermione was nearly two years old, he would have known about Severus and Remus already.

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Wilting Rose 08: I'm not sure I want to know what you found so funny… **:-P**

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MajinSakuko: I am trying to put more Sev/Rem in, there's a little bit in this chapter.

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Warning: Character death this chapter (no one too important, don't worry).

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I am so sorry I haven't update for a while, but I seriously am having terrible writer's block at the moment. Knowing my luck, all the inspiration will hit just as school starts again when I am supposed to be focussing on my studies instead of writing.

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Chapter 17:_ Lupin Annoyance_

It had been an entire week since Snape Manor had been swarmed with Lupins. Hermione had taken to spending copious amounts of time with her little sister, she read the little girl books and taught her things, which was much easier to do now that Hermione was able to do magic outside of school. And Severus and Remus, after nursing Maria back to better health after the full moon, had spent far more time alone together than they had in quite a while. They had managed to have long discussions without bickering for once, discussions about their relationship, their children, their future, Voldemort, and even Severus's dislike of Sirius and James.

Remus's mother, Grace, had been fussing over her youngest son a lot. Saying how skinny he was, and how antisocial he and Severus were when they had 'guests'. She was also quite adept at hinting that they were setting a bad example for their daughters because they seemed to be just as antisocial and cold.

Remus had then decided to remind his mother of what had happened to Maria, and that the young girl was still trying to recover from all her silver burns which was made harder by the monthly transformation. Also that Hermione had had a rough year as well (being attacked) and that she hadn't spent 'quality time' alone with her sister for a while. Needless to say, Grace had stopped insulting his and Severus's parenting skills…for now.

It was mid one morning and Remus and Severus were lying contentedly in each other's arms, savouring the fact that this was the first time in the last week that they had not been woken up at the crack of dawn by one thing or another.

Remus had his head on Severus's chest, the other man's fingers running through his hair, he was rather enjoying the peace and quiet until his pillow started talking.

"What do you think about marriage?"

Remus slowly lifted his head and raised his eyebrows at his lover, "…Well, I think that if a couple want to go through with it then they should, but its not necessary if you want to prove your love for someone… Why?"

"I was just wondering," replied Severus thoughtfully.

Remus frowned a little, he knew very well that Severus hadn't just been 'wondering' about his thoughts on marriage. He started lazily drawing patterns with a finger on the pale chest below him, "You weren't thinking of proposing again, were you?"

Severus arched an eyebrow, "Merlin, no, I've been turned down three times already."

Remus smirked, "That's because I don't think we need to be married. So what if we have two kids, it's only my family that seemed to be bothered by them being born out of wedlock. And anyway, you have to admit, you only proposed the first time because I was pregnant."

"I was led to believe that it was the right thing to do."

"Maybe so," Remus kissed him briefly on the lips. "But I think we're committed enough to be honest…and would you honestly want my family as in laws?"

"Good point."

They started kissing again and Severus tugged the smaller man on top of him. It was a blissful moment and Remus didn't think anything could spoil it. But as usual, when his family was around, he was quite wrong. The couple jumped apart upon hearing the loud cry of one of Remus's nephews or nieces, and then they heard their own daughter shrieking at whoever it was.

__

"Fuck off you little bastards!"

Severus and Remus both jumped when they heard a door at the far end of the hallway slam, and it was quite obvious to them that it was probably time to get up. It also seemed obvious that Hermione would not be surfacing from her room for quite a while.

…

That morning, Sirius was sitting beside James's bed in the Hogwarts Infirmary. Madame Pomfrey had told him when he had arrived that James had woken up briefly the previous night but he had been rather disoriented at the time so she had not called Sirius in to see him. But now, James had woken up again and after having a few of Poppy's recovery potions (recommended by Severus) forced down his throat he was a little more with it. Though Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore and Poppy had been told by Severus that James probably would not be completely with it for any length of time, mainly because he was not sure how his potion would affect the brain of a human.

"I was dead?" croaked James in disbelief. His voice was raspy and his throat was very sore, and Sirius had absentmindedly mentioned that it was probably because neither had been used in nearly sixteen years because of James's 'deceased' status.

Sirius hesitated for a moment, "Well…yeah, you were, but I think we should leave that discussion for when you're more up to it." James frowned at him, and Sirius was reminded of the looks Harry gave him when he wouldn't tell his Godson certain things. "I'm glad to have you back, mate, I've missed you."

…

"Was there any particular reason why Hermione was swearing at your kids?" asked Remus a little while later, after he and Severus had finally risen; though the dark haired man had already disappeared into his basement laboratory.

His oldest sister, Aurora or Rory as she preferred to be called, scowled at him; "Your daughter needs to have her mouth washed out. I have never heard such disgusting language, especially from a girl."

Remus raised his eyebrows, "You should visit Hogwarts one day, you'll hear most of the students swearing like that, a lot of the teachers as well. And why was she swearing, what happened?"

Grace sighed and shook her head, "She saw something in the Daily Prophet and then she stormed off when one of this lot," she nodded at the various children. "Made a joke about it."

Remus curiously picked up the Daily Prophet to flip through it and see what might have upset his daughter, but he only had to look at the front-page headline to know exactly what it was. "Oh no…"

****

BULGARIAN SEEKER, KRUM, DEAD

"What?"

Remus sighed, "Hermione and Viktor Krum were friends." He left it at that to stop them from questioning Hermione when she resurfaced, then he left the room pinching the bridge of his nose and then he headed upstairs to Hermione's room, and knocked on the door.

"Go away!"

"You know I won't go away, Hermione," replied Remus patiently. "Let me in." he heard his daughter mutter something (either a charm or something insulting) and then the door unlocked. He entered the bedroom and saw Hermione sitting on the window seat, her knees pulled up to her chest, and her wand in hand. "I just saw the paper."

Hermione sniffled and threw her wand onto the bed, "I wondered why he hadn't replied to my last letter, he usually did almost straight away…" Remus sat down next to her on the window seat. "Did you read the article?"

Remus shook his head, "No, I saw the headline and came after you."

Hermione wiped her eyes on her sleeve, "Viktor and his family were killed by Death Eaters, the Dark Mark was seen above their house… An eyewitness account said that one of them seemed to have very _blond_ hair…"

"Oh god… Come here," Remus pulled Hermione into his arms and let her cry onto his shoulder, he stroked her hair as comfortingly as he could. He had never been that fond of Viktor Krum, mainly for the fact that the boy had been eighteen when he asked Hermione to the Yule Ball, and having been an eighteen year old boy himself, he knew what they were like. Though he hadn't been as opposed to it as Severus. He had snuck into Hogwarts to visit the potions master during the Triwizard Tournament, before the Yule Ball, and he had had to endure a two hour rant of why they should stop their daughter from going out with an 'eighteen year old, Durmstrang, big shot Quidditch player'. "Just let it all out…"

Hermione clutched at the front of Remus's shirt and continued crying onto his shoulder for what must have been at least twenty minutes. She finally lifted her head a little, her eyes red and sore from crying, and her hair covering half of her face. "Why did i-it have to happen? I mean…I thought Voldemort was still trying to get Britain before he started anywhere else…" her voice was shaky as she spoke.

Remus frowned slightly, she was right, the last information the Order had gotten off Lucius was that Voldemort was fairly content on working his power over Britain first before he sent his servants elsewhere to kill and terrorise. "…It seems we have been given false information, unless of course Lucius hasn't been given the full truth."

Hermione sniffled and hiccuped, "But what if it was Lucius that the eyewitness saw fleeing?"

Remus used his thumbs to wipe the tears away from under Hermione's eyes, "I honestly don't know, I guess we'll probably find out at the next meeting, though I may not be able to tell you, of course." Hermione nodded. "Were you really that close to him?"

Hermione leaned back against her dad's chest so that she could have another hug, "I got to know him really well through our letters…I probably know more about him than I do about Harry, Ron and Draco." She sniffled and snorted. "He was gay, by the way, just to stop you from thinking that he 'influenced' me in anyway during the Tournament, he figured it out last summer."

Remus smirked a little, "I didn't think anything of the sort, it's your father that you need to take that up with."

…

Later that day Remus was at Twelve Grimmauld Place where Sirius was now brooding after Poppy Pomfrey kicked him out of her infirmary to give James some rest.

Sirius glared at his cup of coffee, "Its so unfair, I wasn't even doing anything."

Remus raised an eyebrow in amusement, "I am sure Poppy had a very good reason for why she kicked you out, its rare when she lets anyone stay for hours on end, even if you're related to the patient."

Sirius sighed, "Maybe so, but still, I was happy just to sit there and let him sleep. I'll happily shut up when I want to… What are you smirking at?"

Remus snorted and shook his head, "Despite how much you and Severus despise each other, you'd be surprised how uncannily similar you both are." Sirius narrowed his eyes at the werewolf. "I'm sorry, but it's true. I like to think I know you both very well, and you are both very alike in certain personality traits."

Sirius snorted, "Oh yeah, like what?"

"You're both quick to anger," said Remus, giving a smile that he knew wound both Severus and Sirius up when they knew he was right, though they wouldn't admit it. "I infuriate you both when you know I am right, you both-"

"Ok! I get the point," grumbled Sirius. "You are so annoying."

Remus grinned, "I need somebody to irritate."

"Talking of irritation," started Sirius, "How is your family?"

Remus sighed, "Every bit as annoying as the last time you saw them, and considering that was nearly two decades ago, that's saying something. There are more children in tow as well, and they're doing quite well with upsetting Hermione."

Sirius frowned a little, "Yeah, we've all read what happened to Krum in the Daily Prophet. Is she ok?"

"I think so, yeah," replied Remus. "She's probably still shut in her room with all the books and junk food she could want. Anyway, if Harry and co. want to see her, I'm happy to have them around."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, "I only see two problems with that."

"Severus and my family, right?"

"Exactly."

…

Partly due to the fact that Remus was half muggle, and that Hermione had spent a lot of time in the muggle world while growing up, Snape Manor had quite a lot of muggle technology in it. Nearly all of it was in Hermione's room though, because she had been the one to beg her parents for all the stuff after hearing the muggleborn children at Hogwarts going on about computers and television and CD players and so on. She was currently sat in a pair of shorts and a singlet at her computer, feet on the desk and fan on full power.

It was one of the hottest days so far this summer, a couple of days after Viktor's death, and Hermione had given up on being outside as she had already sunburnt her back from lying on her stomach and reading a book. She wasn't too fond of venturing downstairs because knowing her cousins as she begrudgingly did; they would probably slap her on the back or something knowing full well that it would hurt. As far as she knew, neither of her parents were in the manor at the moment because there had been an Order meeting called (from what she had caught of their conspiratorial whispers), but that had been quite a few hours ago now.

"Hermione!"

Hermione jumped and looked to her fireplace and saw the pale, pointed face of Draco Malfoy gazing at her expectantly, "Oh, its you."

"No need to sound so glad to see me," replied Draco sarcastically, as Hermione knelt down in front of the fire grate. "How are you?"

Hermione smirked, "I find it hard to believe you just flooed for a friendly chat."

Draco frowned, "Fine, I flooed to beg you to change your mind and to come and keep me company tomorrow night. Please?"

"I have changed my mind," Hermione wiped her brow with the back of her hand. "I hate it when the floo network makes your fire light. Anyway, I'll come, I don't want to be stuck here with the family."

Draco grinned, "Great! I'll see you later."

Before Hermione could say anything more, Draco's head vanished from the fireplace so she got to her feet and extinguished the fire with her wand. She decided to go and see if her parents were back yet, to let them know that she was going to go to the Malfoys' with them after all (whether Lucius wanted her near him or not).

After exiting her room, Hermione nearly tripped over her little sister who was sitting on the floor just outside her bedroom. Crying. "Hey, what's the matter?"

Maria sniffled and held her right arm out to her big sister, "It hurts."

Hermione crouched down in front of her and took a look at the little girls arm, "Oh ow… This is a silver burn, Maria, what happened?"

"They're mean."

"Come on," Hermione straightened back up and hoisted Maria up into her arms. "God, you're getting heavy. Let's go find dad, ok?"

"Daddy."

"Or daddy," agreed Hermione. She carried Maria downstairs so that they could go in search of their parents. "Gran, have you seen our parents anywhere?"

"Your father came in a few minutes ago, I don't know where he went though."

"Ok, thanks."

Maria held onto Hermione tightly, her arms around her sister's neck, almost like she was afraid that she would be dropped while she was being taken down to the basement where Severus's lab was.

"Dad?" Hermione nudged the lab door open with her foot.

"Yes?"

Hermione shifted Maria's weight a little, "Maria's hurt, it looks like a silver burn."

Severus came out of his storeroom looking quite annoyed; not to mention unusually scruffy, "What happened?" he took Maria off Hermione and sat down with his youngest daughter on his lap so that he could see the injury.

"I don't know, she wouldn't say. All I got out of her was 'they're mean', whoever 'they' are."

Severus rubbed a hand down his face tiredly, he was starting to look quite exhausted again much to Hermione's worry. "There is a burn ointment in the cabinet in our bathroom, go and get it."

"Ok," Hermione left the dungeon lab frowning a little. Now she was really curious about what was said in the Order meeting. It usually took a lot to get Severus Snape looking so wary and worn out, she didn't think it was just because of James Potter being back or Maria being hurt again.

****

To Be Continued…

……………………………………………………………………………………

****

A/N: I am so sorry for doing this to you lot again! I really am. Like I said at the beginning of the chapter, terrible case of writer's block but I have been trying.

****

Next Chapter: The dinner at the Malfoys (I promise!), and Remus is given an assignment for the Order. But will Severus let him go alone?

__

(…Gets down on hands and knees and awaits forgiveness for bad chapter and lack of updating…)


	18. Crossing the Line

**Late One Night**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything that is making me money.

**Thank yous:**_ orlin, Sarahamanda, im no muggle, ThouandI, Katsura Yuugao, im-a-daydream-believer, yoblossom, gothic-hands, brunette89, Fallen Angel of Hell, iamtherealmaverick, Lafawnduh4, Jo-AnnMarie, TCUDramaprincess, MajinSakuko, Starfox,_ _Evil Windstar,_ _bookluva629,_ _Mistress Vamp_, _ace1025,_ and _Lady were-wolf growl24._

**ThouandI:** Well, yes, Sev is stuck with Remus's family anyway, but well…I don't know, I just thought it sounded good.

**Jo-AnnMarie:** Killing Viktor was just a random event, really. But it also adds a bit…

**Bookluva629:** I was wondering when someone would remember that conflict between the Lupin twins. It may crop up later.

**APOLOGY:** Sorry this took so long to get done, had writer's block and then my Internet got stuffed up. I am honestly trying to update, however slow it is, and I will get more stuff written soon! _Sorry! I really am truly sorry for the lack of updates on all of my stories! Forgive me, please!_

**This chapter will have a lot of Draco/Hermione interaction.**

……………………………………………………………………………………

**Chapter 18:**_ Crossing the Line_

"And you wonder why I constantly pound on you," said Hermione as she gazed across the Malfoys' dinner table at Draco in disgust.

"You're a bitch," grumbled Draco, frowning a little at his oldest friend.

"Takes one to know one."

"Civilised conversation, children," scolded Lucius lightly, he glanced between Severus and Sirius who were scowling at each other across the table, "And adults."

Lucius and Remus had recently cooked up a plan to try and get Severus and Sirius to be more civil to each other. They knew it was a lot to ask but they were willing to give it a try, or they were at least hoping the two wouldn't kill each other until after this war was over. Lucius had invited Sirius around for dinner under the pretence that he wanted his lover and his son to meet, and he had invited Severus and his family around without mentioning to Severus that Sirius would be there. Once the two were in Malfoy Manor they were unable to leave again.

But so far, Severus and Sirius had not said much to each other, all they were doing was passing dark looks across the table, while Hermione and Draco did the bickering.

Draco frowned, "How do you expect me to be civilised to her, she's a snob."

"Ha! That's rich coming you from you, you spoilt brat," replied Hermione narrowing her eyes at the platinum blond.

"Does anyone else sense a marriage coming up?" questioned Sirius in amusement at the two teenagers.

Draco and Hermione both turned their glares onto Sirius who just smirked at them both.

"I have standards, thank you," said Draco before pulling a face at the girl sitting opposite him.

Hermione wrinkled her nose; "I'd rather go out with Buckbeak."

"That hippogriff? I thought that was dead."

Hermione smiled, "Buckbeak is far from dead, no creature deserves to die because of your stupidity." Sirius winked at her. "Don't look at me like that, you were told quite clearly not to insult hippogriffs."

"Was not."

"Were too."

"You're lying."

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are."

"Not."

"You're in denial."

"About what?"

"Anything…everything."

"Yeah, sure, ok."

Draco wooted triumphantly, "Ha! You agree."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I'm humouring you."

"Bullshit."

"Draco!"

Hermione snorted, she was greatly enjoying her torment of Draco, and the fact that the adults weren't bothering to intervene much was great as well. It had been a while since she had had a good banter with anyone. The most she had had in way of an argument lately was with one of her aunts who always seemed to nit pick at everything she did or said (mostly when it came to clothes and her use of _vulgar_ language).

Draco scowled at her, "Shut up, Hermione."

"Make me."

"Don't tempt me."

"Why? Afraid you might hurt me?"

"I would."

Hermione deliberately cracked the knuckles on her right hand; "You've met my fist before."

"I think we all have at some point," commented Lucius sourly, remembering that night in the graveyard when he had crept up behind Hermione and ended up with a black eye.

"You deserved it."

Severus raised an eyebrow slightly; "She has a point." Lucius narrowed his eyes at the potions master.

"I'd quite like to see that again," said Sirius smirking at the senior Malfoy.

"Hear, hear."

Remus raised his eyebrows at Severus in minor surprise before looking to Lucius, "They seem to be agreeing on something, Lucius."

"At my expense."

"Whatever turns 'em on," said Hermione before she took a sip of her wine.

"Ew…"

"That's not what I meant!"

"Sure it isn't," Draco grinned at her.

Hermione gazed at him; "You make me glad I don't have a brother…"

"I'm glad I'm an only child."

"Oh good," said Lucius, deciding it was about time the two teenagers stopped bickering. "One is enough, anyway."

…

Meanwhile, in the Hogwarts Infirmary, the recently risen James Potter was currently being fed a variety of rejuvenating potions by Madame Pomfrey, while the Headmaster stood watching.

"Your bedside manner hasn't improved much…" mumbled James when he had finished forcing the potions down his throat.

"Neither has your stubbornness," replied Poppy, "Now, if you start to feel drowsy, do not try and fight it, you need to rest up to get your strength back. I want you up and about like a normal twenty-one year old within the week."

"Yes, ma'am."

Poppy huffed and headed back to her office, closing the door behind her.

James slumped back against the pillows again, he was still very weak, and his throat was sore from talking because he hadn't done it much in the past sixteen years. "What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked, looking to the old Headmaster.

"Ah yes," Dumbledore sat down in a chair beside James's bed. "It's just a matter of your age… Considering the age of your son now and the age at which you died, I was thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea if we aged you to what you should be at this moment in time."

James shrugged a little, "If its my maturity level you're concerned about, I somehow don't expect that will change with ageing me."

"Well no, I never thought it would," replied Dumbledore smiling slightly. James snorted. "But I am just thinking of how Harry would feel having a twenty-one year old father, that and this coming year's Head Girl seems to have developed an attraction to you."

James laughed quietly, "So Remus said…and you think ageing me would change that?"

"No, but I remember your reputation as a student."

"No need to say anymore, Albus."

……

It was getting late at the Malfoys' now, the adults had retired to Lucius's study for drinks (as was custom for most upper class pureblood families), while Draco and Hermione had gone up to the Malfoy heir's bedroom after having a couple of drinks themselves.

Hermione giggled from where she was sprawled out on Draco's four-poster bed, "Please don't strip, I don't want to see that…"

"You love it."

"I do not, you skinny moron."

Draco smirked at her; "You're drunk, you fancy anything with two legs when you're pissed."

Hermione huffed, "That is not true…I fancy men with two legs…"

"Then why don't you have a boyfriend, hm?"

Hermione rolled onto her side and propped her head on a hand, "And what business is that of yours, may I ask?"

Draco shrugged, he fell down onto his bed next to Hermione and grinned up at her, "Just wondering. Other than Krum – and I'm sorry by the way – I haven't seen you with anyone else. You need to get laid, everyone's saying it."

Hermione opened her mouth in offense, "Who's saying that? Anyway, what makes you think I haven't gotten laid?" Draco gave her a pointed look. "Ok…I haven't gotten any, but that's beside the point, and it is _none_ of your business." Draco laughed. "This discussion is finished."

"You're too high-strung."

"Maybe I like being single, did you ever think of that?"

"You prude."

Hermione smacked the blond in the arm; "I am _not_ a prude. Have I not proved that enough in the last year?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, doing an almost perfect impression of his father, "Beating up everyone in sight does not entirely prove that. From what I have heard through the grapevine, you are the only girl in our year who has not put out for any guy."

Hermione snorted, "I'm sure I'm not the only one, thank you. Even if I am, that is no business of yours, and I am quite happy with the way things are."

"Sure, sure."

"But honestly, do you think I would ever get a date if everyone found out who my parents are?" continued Hermione, she had decided that Draco probably wouldn't shut up about this topic anytime soon, so she may as well give in now. "Especially Professor Snape."

Draco frowned a little, "True…he scares the hell out of me when he's angry, but that wouldn't stop me from doing anything."

Hermione raised her eyebrows curiously, "Stop you from doing _what,_ exactly?"

Hermione did not have to stay curious for long.

……

It was nearly midnight, and one of the Malfoys' house-elves had just been sent to get Hermione from upstairs. Zippy, the house-elf, knowing that Draco didn't really mind her sudden appearances, decided to _pop_ into the young master's room to retrieve brunette. What the little house-elf didn't expect was to see the two teenagers kissing on the bed like there was no tomorrow. Zippy, brown eyes as wide as saucers, _popped_ out of the room again and decided to knock on the door as though nothing had happened.

…

Upon hearing the knock on the door, Draco jumped in shock and fell off his bed leaving a wide-eyed and breathless Hermione lying there on her back.

"Who is it?" called Draco cautiously.

"It is Zippy, young sir. Master is sending for young Miss, who is to be going home now, sir."

"I'll be there in a minute!" replied Hermione, she was still reeling from what had just transpired between her and Draco. She just hoped that her parents wouldn't notice anything, particularly Severus who (despite denying it), was very protective of his first born _daughter._

"Guess I'll be seeing you soon…then…" said Draco from where he was still on the floor as Hermione got up off the bed.

Hermione nodded, she ran her fingers through her hair and tied it up again and tried to compose herself before heading for the door, "Mm yeah…hope so. See you soon." With that she quickly ducked out of the bedroom and into the huge hallway, "Holy hell…"

………

It had been a few days since the dinner with the Malfoys, and the line crossing in the friendship between Draco and Hermione.

Hermione was sat under a tree in the Snape Manor grounds reading a book, or rather staring at the pages and pondering on what happened between Draco and herself. She had honestly never thought of her childhood friend in a romantic light before, the same with both Ron and Harry as well, the mere thought had actually rather repulsed her up until now, because all three of them were like brothers to her. Though she could not deny that Draco was very good looking, just like his father (whom she had had a crush on in the past), but was he really a guy worth pursuing? Would the snogging have happened if they had not been tipsy?

That was her main angst about that night. Had Draco only crossed the line because she was a little drunk? Did he have feelings for her other than friendship? More to the point, did _she_ feel more for him than just friendship?

Hermione did not have a definite answer for any of those questions, not even her own feelings towards the blond, but she was definitely sure about one thing. She _enjoyed_ that night more than she thought she would.

But even still, she decided to send a note to Draco asking him about it. But how to word it?

It didn't take her long to figure it out; one sentence was all it took.

Dray,

Did it mean anything to you?

Mione

………

"I don't care what bloody Dumbledore says, I am not letting you go alone!"

Remus rolled his eyes skywards before he sat down on the couch in one of the upstairs studies of Snape Manor. "He gave _me_ the mission for a reason, Severus, I don't want you coming along and making it even more difficult for me," he held up his hand as Severus tried to argue with him. "Anyway, what about the girls? One of us has to be here."

"That's beside the point-"

"No it isn't!" replied Remus cutting the dark haired man off and earning a scowl in reply. "You know full well what could happen if you come along with me, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you."

Severus grumbled and sat down on the stool in front of Remus, "I have been risking my life for years, I know what kind of danger is out there. Whether you want me to or not, I am going with you."

"Sev-"

"I am _not_ arguing about it."

Remus sighed, he knew there was no way of changing Severus's mind whether he wanted to or not. Plus, he had always been a bit of a pushover, which was probably why he always gave in so easily. "What about your job? We might not be back by September…and then there are also the girls to think of."

"They can both be at Hogwarts, can't they?" replied Severus, he was in the mind to chain Remus in his laboratory at the moment. He was also annoyed at Dumbledore for giving such a dangerous mission to the man he loved, even if Remus was the only one that could take on this mission he still didn't like it. "This mission is a lost cause anyway, you know it is."

"Maybe it is, but it's worth a try," replied Remus quietly. "I am the only one that can do this, if I don't, what else is there that I could do for the Order?" he waited a few moments, giving Severus a chance to reply, but the potions master didn't. "No, I didn't think you could answer that one. I'm not going to sit around and do nothing, and if this is how I can help the Order then I will do it, whether you want me to or not. It will also be much easier for me if you _don't_ force your presence upon me during the mission."

"What mission?"

Both men looked over to the door where Hermione was standing, looking a bit sheepish.

"I wasn't listening deliberately, but you were being pretty loud."

Remus chewed his bottom lip for a moment, "Shut the door and sit down." Hermione silently did as she was told. _"I_ have been given a mission to do for the Order, it could very well be dangerous and I don't know how long I'll be gone-"

"What was this about both of you going?" asked Hermione cutting him off.

Severus frowned a little, "How much did you hear?"

"Eh…most of it."

Remus sighed, "OK then… This mission was specifically given to _me,_ as there is no one else that can do it, but your father doesn't seem to understand that." Severus glared at him. "The point is, it looks like we'll both be going and if there are Death Eaters there before us then-"

"You might not come back," finished Hermione quietly, she crossed her legs and folded her arms almost petulantly. "And what is the 'mission'?"

"Its classified information," replied Severus in a deadpan voice, as though it had been programmed into him.

Hermione scowled at them both, "If you're going to end up dead because of it, personally, I would like to know _why?"_

Remus sighed again, this wasn't going to end well, he could tell that already. "Hermione, you _know_ that we can't tell you," Hermione pouted. "It's going to happen whether you want it to or not. We can't really predict whether we'll come back alive or not, if at all."

Hermione snorted, "Go to Trelawney, I'm sure she'd be willing to give you a reading."

"Hers always end in death," said Severus, it sounded as though he had actually been considering going to the woman for a prediction. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again, Hermione started talking.

"Fine, even if you won't tell me, what are you going to say to Maria?" asked Hermione in genuine concern. She didn't think Maria could handle it if she didn't have both of her dads around all the time, in fact, the little girl could barely handle only having one dad around at a time, let alone neither. "What if you don't come back?"

Remus rubbed his forehead tiredly, "We haven't discussed that yet, we also haven't actually discussed whether we're both going or not, as well," he passed a pointed look at Severus. "We aren't necessarily going to be leaving in the next week or so anyway… Let us talk about it and we'll let you know, ok?"

……

When Hermione had miserably returned to her bedroom, her head full of horrible outcomes of whatever it was her parents were going to be doing, she found an owl waiting patiently on her windowsill with a piece of parchment tied to its leg.

It was Draco's owl which just made Hermione feel all the more down on the world, what if he didn't have a nice answer to the note she had sent him a couple of days ago? The fact that it had taken him so long to reply had just worried her more, she didn't want to lose that friendship.

Taking a nervous deep breath, Hermione reached over and took the note off the owl, she unfolded it and saw that it was only four words long.

Yes it did.

Dray

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**A/N:** Finally! Took me a week to finish this chapter, and its probably evident that I still have a bit of writer's block because it was kinda half-arsed.

**Next Chapter:** Remus and Severus decide on the mission. Harry is informed of James's resurrection. Draco and Hermione chat.

…offers cookies in apology…


	19. Dark Mark

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I think by now you know what is and isn't mine.

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Thank yous:_ Mistress Vamp, orlin, Sarahamanda, iamtherealmaverick, im no muggle, brunette89, ThouandI, Eleonora1, yoblossom, really-big-HP-freak, Lafawnduh4, Goddess of Gorgeousness, half blood princess and summer, bookluva629,_ _Dortha,_ _wiccan-witch88,_ and _Sairiniakilania._

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Sairiniakilania: I missed you!

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You guys rock!

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Chapter 19:_ Dark Mark_

It was a couple of nights after Remus and Severus had been arguing about the assignment that Remus was to go on, and the two men had still not come to an agreement on whether they should both go or not. Severus was still adamant about joining Remus on the mission, come what may, while Remus refused to let the man he loved tag a long because it really was _that_ dangerous, especially for someone as human as Severus.

Remus was lay on his stomach under the covers of his and Severus's bed, he was thinking about his options for this mission. Either he could go and allow Severus to tag along, he could tell Dumbledore he wasn't willing to do it and if possible allow most of the Order to think even less of him. Or (and this was the least favourite of his options) he could sneak out when Severus and the girls were all sleeping so that nobody could follow him. He knew exactly where it was that he had to go, Severus hadn't been present for that particular chat with Dumbledore so he wouldn't know.

As Remus continued pondering he felt a cool handle wandering gently up and down his bare back. "Don't even think about it, Severus, I am not in the mood for any amorous activities with you at the moment." He could practically hear Severus rolling his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me, you pissed me off."

Severus sighed, after their argument the other night Remus had been behaving very temperamentally, he had even made Maria cry earlier today. "Would it help if I said I was sorry?"

"No it bloody wouldn't," replied Remus, he moved a little but not out of annoyance for having the hand on his back. "I know you haven't changed your mind about going with me, so apologising is pointless."

"It's a pointless mission in the first place," said Severus, he gently ran his fingers up and down Remus's spine. "I still don't think you should go alone, and I am not going to apologise for caring, if that is what you're waiting for."

Remus huffed and turned onto his back, he put an arm over his eyes and grumbled, "Why do you have to be such a prick?"

"You knew that before you first climbed into my bed."

Remus sat up and gazed at Severus for a few moments before speaking again, "What if someone else went with me? Would that get you off my case?"

Severus snorted quietly, "No it wouldn't. Taking someone else with you could ruin the mission."

Remus laughed incredulously, "And taking you _won't?" _Severus shrugged a little. "That is a bit of a double standard, professor, but still, whether you like it or not, I am going _without_ you."

"Bu-"

"No _buts,"_ said Remus, cutting the other man off. "Anyone else that goes with me would get killed like _that-" _he clicked his fingers. "I will be damned if our kids are going to be left as orphans as well. I am leaving in a couple of days, if you follow me, Severus, I will personally inflict great harm upon you."

Severus had his eyebrows raised in slight alarm; Remus rarely made threats like that, in fact, the last time the werewolf had made one to him and actually meant it was when Remus was giving birth to Maria. "Point taken."

"Good."

………

By the next morning Hermione could tell there was a great amount of tension between her parents, particularly from seeing the dark looks Remus was passing Severus which was something he rarely did unless they had had an argument of some sort. This time though, Hermione felt certain she knew what their argument was about, it was this mission (whatever it was) and it seemed to be greatly displeasing to Severus.

Whatever it was though she was determined to find out, from the small bit that they had told her it sounded quite bad and she had a fair idea as to what the mission could be as Remus had said that 'only he could do it'. Remus was the only werewolf in the Order that Hermione knew of so she felt sure it was something to do with werewolves, there were small colonies of them in other countries after all.

Hermione kept glancing back and forth between her parents during lunch, it was just them, herself and Maria for once as all the extended family had taken a day trip to Diagon Alley for school books for a couple of the children starting at Hogwarts this year. "…I know you don't like it when I start questioning everything, but I have to ask. Why are you glaring at each other?"

"Its my natural expression," replied Severus in a flat tone of voice.

Remus glanced at Severus and rolled his eyes, "It doesn't matter, Hermione."

Hermione definitely knew there was something wrong now, Remus only ever said her full name if he was in a bad mood or she was in trouble. Usually it was just shortened to 'Mione'. "Ok then…" There was no point in questioning further at the moment; she would only end up in trouble then. "Draco wants me to go see him. Can I?"

Remus nodded, "As long as you be careful in getting there, and be back before midnight."

Hermione raised her eyebrows slightly; "I will be," with that she got up and left the dining room as quickly as she could. The tension in there between her parents was almost unbearable.

After Hermione had gone, Remus got up from the table. He knew he and Severus should sit down and talk civilly about this problem but he really didn't want to make the first move, and it seemed as though Severus didn't plan to either. As he headed past Severus he barely had time to react before he was pulled onto the dark haired man's lap and kissed. "Are you asking for forgiveness?"

Severus settled his hands on Remus's almost too thin waist, conscious of the fact that Maria was still in the room, "Yes. I may not like what you have been asked to do, but I guess I can step aside and let you go."

Remus had a small smile on his face, "How thoughtful," he put a hand to Severus's forehead. "Are you sick or drunk?"

Severus's eyes narrowed slightly, "Is being sick or drunk a requirement for swallowing one's pride?"

Remus smirked and pressed a kiss to the potion master's frowning mouth, "Can you blame me for being a little wary? Its not often that you admit you're wrong."

"I am not admitting that I am wrong, I am just going against my own best judgement."

"I am grateful for that, believe me," Remus untangled himself from Severus's arms and got back to his feet. He turned to Maria who was playing with her food, "You nearly finished, hun?"

"Yup!"

"You say that like you're going somewhere."

"We are," replied Remus, he noticed Severus's quizzical look. "Headquarters. Sirius and I need to discuss a few things before the meeting later. Try not to hurt my family when they come back." He said before lifting Maria up and carrying her to the door.

"I won't harm them if they give me no reason too," replied Severus darkly.

Remus smiled, "I'll see you later."

"Bye."

……

Hermione and Draco were sitting on the floor in Draco's bedroom, their backs against his bed. They hadn't done much talking about their relationship yet, mainly because they had spent the last two hours in the Malfoy Manor kitchen raiding cupboards and finding wonderful food to stuff themselves with. But now that they were feeling bloated and relaxed from the food and the wine that they had sneaked upstairs, they were feeling ready to talk.

"Do you think we should tell anyone?"

Hermione smirked a little, "No I don't. We have three fathers between us and they would all probably kill us, I would also prefer not having to deal with my friends right away."

Draco nodded, "Remus might be a bit more accepting, right?"

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know about that, I don't think he's ever been all that fond of you, and especially your dad. He just hides it well." She rested her head on Draco's shoulder. "Let's just play it by here. If they find out, they find out, there's no need for us to shout it from the roof tops."

"Yeah…" replied Draco uncertainly. "With the war at the moment, it would probably be best if we kept it quiet anyway…"

Hermione lifted her head and gazed at the blond, "You don't sound too happy about that."

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

…

The Order Meeting was in full swing now, the group of adults was seated around the kitchen table in Twelve Grimmauld Place, with parchment spread everywhere, and plans going into action.

"Remus," said Dumbledore after checking over something. "Have you decided?"

Remus nodded, "Yeah, I'm going. I'll leave in a couple of days…_alone."_ He gazed pointedly at Severus and Sirius who had both tried to persuade him into taking backup with him, namely themselves. Neither of the raven-haired men looked happy about this and he knew they would both hunt him down after the meeting to argue it out, but he was not going to let anyone else get hurt. This mission was too dangerous for someone who was _all_ human.

"Very well," Dumbledore nodded, a small frown on his face. "Now, next port of call-" the old wizard was cut off when Kingsley Shacklebolt rushed into the room (he had been on a mission up until now). "Kingsley, is all well?"

Kingsley panted for air, "There's something going down at the Malfoys', I saw a huge group of Death Eaters arriving, and I am fairly certain that You Know Who may have arrived by now as well."

Black and brown eyes gazed fearfully at one another and Remus spoke meekly, "Hermione's there…"

…

"Shit…damn it all to hell!" cursed Lucius Malfoy as he rushed up the stairs of his manor to his son's room. He had known Voldemort would be turning up sometime soon, along with the other Death Eaters, Draco knew that as well, but neither Malfoy had expected it to be today. The reason for Voldemort being here was worrying enough, but now Lucius had to make sure Hermione's presence was kept secret as well otherwise she could easily be killed. Knowing Voldemort, he would make Lucius do the killing. Once he reached the room of his son (which was inconveniently situated at the far end of the manor), Lucius hammered on the door.

…

Draco and Hermione jumped apart in shock, they had not been expecting any interruptions, in fact, they had both thought that Lucius wasn't even in the manor and they knew the house-elves wouldn't disturb them.

"Come in!"

Lucius opened the door, and both teenagers saw he looked far more pale than usual, "He's here, Draco, you are wanted downstairs," Draco's grey eyes widened. The senior Malfoy then turned his attention to curious looking girl in the room. "Hermione, stay here. No matter what you hear from now on, do _not_ leave this room, not unless you know that you can get out undetected."

Hermione nodded silently as Lucius and Draco swiftly left the room. Who was here? He… Who was _he?_

As she realised whom Lucius had meant, Hermione's eyes widened fearfully.

"Voldemort…"

…

"Oh holy hell…" Remus buried his face in his hands, he was shaking with nerves even more now than he had been when the group of kids had gone off to the Department of Mysteries. "Why the hell would they be there?"

Severus had dragged his chair up next to Remus's, he had a hand on the werewolf's back as he looked to the Headmaster, "Do you really think six people around the perimeter of that manor is going to suffice, Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore frowned, "No I do not, but we can not go rushing in there as has happened before," he knew exactly what was on Severus's mind, he knew what his potions professor wanted to do. "It could end fatally, anyone could be hurt, Severus. Hermione could be hurt."

Remus let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a whimper.

…

Hermione had been pacing Draco's room for nearly half an hour now, she hadn't heard a single sound from downstairs and she figured that there were many Death Eaters down there. She stopped in the middle of the room suddenly, something had finally clicked in her slightly inebriated mind at last, there were literally hundreds of secret passages throughout Malfoy Manor. All she had to do was use the one in Draco's room and follow the tunnel and stairs until she came to the passage that connected to the Manor grounds. She and Draco had used them all the time when they were younger, mainly so they could escape Lucius's wrath because he didn't know where all of them were. She went over to the big bookcase in Draco's room and searched the middle shelf for the right book, once she found the thick brownish coloured tome she pulled on it and the bookcase started to slide across the wall to reveal a dark stairway.

…

Sirius crept through the thick bushes lining one side of Malfoy Manor; he had apparated into the adjoining forest so that he could be part of the team that was keeping watch on the manor because of the Death Eaters and Voldemort's presence. He had also promised the nearly hysterical Remus that he would make sure he got Hermione back in one piece.

…

Hermione had found her way to the first floor, she knew she was very close to the Drawing room now, and she could hear voices. She squeezed through a gap that she had thought was bigger than it was now, though last time she had gotten through it she had been about ten and had no chest to get in the way. Once through the gap she found a crack in the wall and peered through it, but upon doing so she really wished she hadn't.

In the drawing room, in the middle of the group of hooded Death Eaters was the tall, half-skeletal and snakelike form of Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord had his wand out, the tip of it on the bared forearm of Draco who looked to be in a great amount of pain.

The teenager's eyes widened as she saw Voldemort tip his head back slightly and take a great sniff of the air. It wasn't possible that he could smell her, was it? She became frozen to the spot when the Dark Lord spoke.

"Lucius," Hermione saw a Death Eater with his back to her become rigid. "Do you have something you wish to tell me?"

"No, my Lord."

__

Oh no… Thought Hermione, _he sounds too nervous, surely he knows that. _She tried to will Lucius to grow his spine again.

"You are lying, Lucius," Draco whimpered in pain. "Would you like me to make this more painful for your son?"

"I would never do such a thing to you, my Lord."

Voldemort removed his wand from Draco's arm; the young blond fell to his knees, cradling his arm in pain. Voldemort pointed his wand straight at Lucius and muttered, "Crucio."

Hermione had to cover her mouth to keep herself from crying out when she saw her Godfather fall to the ground and writhe about in agony. She quickly squeezed back through the narrow gap and took off through the dark secret tunnels, in search of the right passage to get out of this manor.

…

Remus was already on his third not-too-small glass of Firewhiskey, the worry was getting to him even more now because he wasn't allowed to do anything about it. With the Department of Mysteries fiasco, he had at least been able to go and help rescue the kids, Hermione in particular – in fact, at that time it had been Severus was drowning his sorrows in alcohol because he had been powerless to do anything at that time.

Severus sat opposite Remus at the kitchen table in Sirius's house, they were alone in there now except for Maria who was on his lap. "Remus, drinking is only going to make it worse."

Remus glared at dark haired man, "The more I drink, the less I'll remember it in the morning."

Severus rested his chin on top of Maria's head, because the child was falling asleep, "It's a full moon tomorrow night, do you really want a hangover for that?" He was trying hard to be sympathetic with Remus, sure he was worried sick about Hermione as well, but the werewolf could be quite irritable with his attitude sometimes. Remus pushed the Firewhiskey away from himself. "No, I didn't think so. Anyway, we could be worrying about absolutely nothing-"

"Oh don't be so naïve, Severus," snapped Remus, he succeeded in bringing Maria back to full alertness. "You know better than I do about what goes on when Voldemort calls a meeting. For all we know she could be dead by now, if he's found out she's there."

…

Hermione had finally found her way out of Malfoy manor via several different secret passages. She was currently crouched behind a bush because she had seen a Death Eater patrolling this particular side of the manor. She watched silently as the Death Eater traipsed past her hiding place, and once she was sure that he had gone around the far corner of the manor she made a run for the bushes that separated the manor grounds from adjoining forest.

Once she was safely behind the cover of the separating bushes, Hermione crouched down again just as the same Death Eater came back around the corner. It was then that she heard movement behind her, so she got her wand at the ready and cautiously scanned her surroundings.

Before she had any time to react she was grabbed around the waist and a hand was placed over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Now she was frightened, and the fact that it was quite dark outside now added to that.

"Hermione, calm down. Its me," whispered the person who had grabbed her.

After she had unceremoniously been dragged further into the forest, her 'captor' finally let her go so that she could see him. Upon doing so, Hermione smacked the man in the arm. "Could you not have been a little nicer about it!"

"Keep your voice down," hissed Sirius, rubbing the arm she had just hit. "Ow, no wonder Lucius was upset when you hit him."

Hermione sat down on the ground, her back against a tree, "Why are you here?"

Sirius leaned against a tree opposite her, "The Order has been patrolling the Malfoy property for a couple of months now, to make sure we don't lose our last spy," he spoke quietly. "Kingsley saw the Death Eaters arrive earlier and he alerted us, normally we wouldn't come all the way here just to spy, but your parents expressed their concern about you being here."

Hermione nodded and chewed her bottom lip, "Voldemort tortured Lucius before I left," she glanced up at Sirius and saw his grey eyes widen in worry. "I also think he was giving Draco the Dark Mark…"

Sirius frowned, "He was… You would probably be in Draco's position if your father was as brainwashed as Lucius was when you were born." Hermione's eyes widened once again. "Lucky for you, he had Remus to talk him down." He held out a hand to pull Hermione up. "Come on, I promised I'd get you back Headquarters safely."

Hermione took Sirius's hand and let him pull her up, "Dad's probably freaking right out, isn't he?"

"He was when I left."

…

Remus was pacing the kitchen now, it had been over an hour since several Order members had gone to, "Something must have happened, they've been far too long…"

Dumbledore had entered the kitchen as Remus spoke, "Hermione is perfectly fine."

It was then that Hermione tripped down the stairs into the kitchen with Sirius behind her, smirking at the clumsiness.

"Oh thank god!" Remus rushed over to Hermione and hugged her tightly.

Hermione, after the surprise, tugged on Remus's robes, "Dad…I can't breathe…"

Remus reluctantly let her go, "Are you ok? What happened?"

"Dad, I'm _fine," _replied Hermione, "I don't think Lucius and Draco are though…"

……

It was nearly another hour before the two Malfoys made an appearance at the Order Headquarters. Lucius looked far more composed than he had when Hermione last saw him, but Draco on the other hand, looked to be on the verge of tears still. But rightly so, his left forearm was burnt from Voldemort's Mark and it was bleeding profusely.

Dumbledore took Lucius, Sirius, Severus and Remus out of the kitchen and to another room for a quick talk, while Molly (though reluctantly) tended to Draco's arm. Hermione stayed at the blond's side.

…

Lucius leaned heavily against the fireplace in a living room of the House of Black, he was in so much pain right now, Voldemort had cast Crucio upon him three times.

Sirius immediately made a beeline for his lover, but it became quite clear that Lucius didn't want any fuss made over his injuries right now. The Animagus sighed, there was always later.

"What happened, Lucius?" questioned Dumbledore, folding his arms.

Lucius ran a hand through his long hair and sighed, "He turned up earlier than I thought he would, requesting Draco's presence. I got Draco, told Hermione to stay where she was, and…let my son take the Mark. I was also tortured a few times because He thought I was lying to him…and in all honesty, I was."

…

"I wonder what's going on," said Hermione curiously.

"Hermione, come and keep pressure on his arm, while I go and find out," said Molly warily to the girl before she left the kitchen.

"Ok…" Hermione went and sat down behind and just to the side of Draco, she pressed her hand down on the Murtlap covered cloth on Draco's forearm and rested her chin on his left shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Draco let his head rest against Hermione and he sighed, "Yeah, I guess so… I always knew it was going to happen, I just…"

"Didn't realise the full ramifications?" finished Hermione for him. She slipped her free arm around his waist and hugged him. Though she still wasn't entirely sure of what Death Eaters had to do, she could at least guess what would probably be expected of her boyfriend now that he carried the Dark Mark, and she didn't like what she was coming up with at all.

"I should have backed out when father gave me the chance…"

Hermione nuzzled her head against his pale neck; "He would've killed you both if you had refused."

Draco sighed and revelled in the fell of being nursed by his oldest friend, and now girlfriend, "I know, but father always said that if I didn't want to do it then he'd find someway to protect us both, and perhaps mum as well. I just agreed out of fear, it's hard to say _no_ to Voldemort, because you know he's going to kill you on the spot."

Hermione pressed a kiss to the back of his blond head as she heard footsteps nearing the kitchen, "You'll be ok, I know you will."

The kitchen door opened and Dumbledore came in followed by the four men he had been talking with just moments before. The three fathers of the group stopped dead upon seeing their children so intimately close.

Dumbledore smiled a little, "As lovely as it is to see my Head students getting on so well already, we need to speak with Draco alone, Hermione."

Hermione nodded and started to get up, but Draco grabbed her by an arm and forced her back onto her seat, "She stays."

"Draco," said Lucius in a warning tone. "This is no time to be a brat."

Draco scowled at his father, his good arm restraining Hermione because she was fidgeting like she was trying to get back up, "I'm going to tell her what you say anyway, so you might as well let her hear it first hand."

Hermione chewed her bottom lip nervously; Lucius's temper was enough to get her nerves on edge, but the look on Severus's face was definitely worrying. _I guess that's what over-protectiveness looks like…_ She thought, as she averted her eyes.

Lucius was about to speak again, but Sirius over-rode him, "They're both adults, we may as well treat them as such."

"Thank you, Sirius," said Draco smugly, though his gratefulness probably just cost some trouble for Sirius.

"Very well," Dumbledore sat down at the head of the table and the other four men followed suit. It was obvious none of them were happy about Draco's insistence of Hermione staying. "Now, Draco… You are aware of what is expected of you now that you have taken the Mark of Lord Voldemort?"

Draco gulped audibly and nodded, "I've already had that explained to me. Spy on Potter, isn't it? Feed the Dark Lord knowledge but not the entire truth."

Dumbledore nodded a little, "Yes, except that particular play on the truth should be run by your father, Severus, or myself before anything is said to Voldemort." Draco nodded slowly…

………

It was nearly sunrise by the time the Lupin-Snape family returned home from the Order Headquarters. Hermione knew exactly what would happen if she stuck around her parents for too long, so as soon as she had entered the manor she took off upstairs to her bedroom. She really didn't want to be interrogated about her relationship with Draco right now. Severus went to put Maria to bed while Remus collapsed on their bed; the two werewolves were exhausted now because of the oncoming full moon.

After he had tucked Maria into bed and kissed her goodnight (or good morning as the case was now), Severus headed for his and Remus's bedroom, fully intent on passing out. He found Remus already fast asleep, burrowed down under the covers, snoring softly (though the brown haired man would never admit it).

The arguing he and Remus had been doing the last year or so was really beginning to get to him. He really didn't want to be fighting with someone he loved so much, but it just happened with or without them realising it. It was the war, Severus knew it was the war, they hadn't argued or fallen out nearly as much before Voldemort came back. It had happened back during the first war as well, but to add to the problems back then he had been a full-fledged Death Eater and they had had a baby daughter as well.

Severus was just hoping that they could both survive long enough to work through their many problems.

………

"Harry, can you come with me?" said Sirius after breakfast at the Headquarters.

"Ok…" Harry followed Sirius through the house curiously. His godfather had been behaving oddly for quite a while now, all summer in fact. He was also meaning to ask Sirius what happened last night, because he had definitely heard the very distinctive voices of both Lucius and Draco Malfoy.

Sirius closed the door to his mother's old bedroom after Harry had entered, "Listen, I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now, but Dumbledore advised me to wait a while. I was also going to do this with Remus's help, but it's a full moon tonight, so he can't."

"Stop stalling, Sirius, just tell me," replied Harry, his curiosity was definitely peaked now.

"Right, sorry," Sirius sighed and nodded, he leaned against an old chest of drawers, "About a year ago, Dumbledore requested that Snape create a potion that could resurrect the dead…" Harry's eyebrows raised. "At the beginning of this summer the potion and a couple of others were finished and we had it administered to…to your dad."

"…And?"

Sirius tried a smile, he didn't think Harry would be too happy in being kept in the dark, "He's alive, Harry, James is back."

Harry's green eyes had widened slightly, but almost as soon the shock had come, his expression became darker, "Why didn't anyone bother to tell me sooner? How long has he been back!"

Sirius ran a hand through his dark hair, "We thought it would be best not to let you know about Dumbledore's idea in case the resurrection didn't work." Harry glared at him. "He's been back about a month, but he's been too weak for much up until now." He had also been planning on telling Harry of his relationship with Lucius, but right now, that wasn't looking like such a good idea. "Harry, look-"

"I _don't_ want to hear it," growled Harry, and before Sirius could say anything, his godson had stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Buckbeak squawked.

Sirius went over to the hippogriff and scratched Buckbeak's head, "We both knew that wasn't going to go well, eh, boy?"

Buckbeak made a little noise and nipped at the hem of Sirius's t-shirt.

"All right, all right, I'll give you some lunch."

…

"Rem," Severus shook Remus to wake the werewolf up, he needed to get the last dose of Wolfsbane potion into his lover before tonight. Remus had been taking the potion again because of his family being around, just for precautions. "Wake up."

Remus groaned and tried to bury his head under his pillow, "Go 'way…"

Severus pulled the pillow away from the smaller man, "Remus, you need to have your potion."

Remus mumbled something unsavoury before forcing himself to sit up, he slumped against the headboard of the bed and took the goblet of potion off Severus, and he gulped it down quickly and pulled a face. "It still tastes foul."

"I'll take that as your thanks," said Severus, as he got started to get back to his feet. But he stopped when Remus grabbed one of his wrists and pulled him back down. "What?"

Remus sighed, "I'm sorry."

"For?"

"You know perfectly well what for," Remus's voice was a bit hoarse now. "I said some pretty nasty things last night, and I'm sorry, I know how you feel about your past and I should've known better than to bring it up."

Severus pressed a kiss to the other man's forehead, "We're both too stressed out at the moment, I don't blame you."

Remus sat up properly and wrapped his arms around Severus's neck in a hug, which was returned almost immediately. "I love you."

"I love you too, Rem," he could tell Remus was starting to drift off to sleep again. "More than you know."

……………………………………………………………………………………

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A/N: Finally, another update. By the way, the 'nasty remarks' made between Sev and Rem during the night aren't the ones that I actually wrote in.

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Next Chapter: Remus has gone on his mission. Severus reflects on his werewolf love (flashbacks included). Hermione begs her father to tell her about Remus's mission. School starts back. Draco and Hermione are introduced to the not-so-joyous job of being Head Boy and Girl. Harry meets his father.

So there will be lots in the next chapter (whenever it is actually written).


	20. Duties

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I do not own incredibly much, but by now you should know what is and isn't mine. I also own Trinny Jacobs, one of Remus's nieces – she is a new fifth year and Hermione doesn't really like her much.

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Thank yous:_ Viki, Mistress Vamp, Lucian, Sarahamanda, iamtherealmaverick, ThouandI, PPP, brunette89, pickyvick, bookluva629, Fallen Angel of Hell, Eleonora1, lotrobsession, Remusgrl01, Sairiniakilania, Goddess of Gorgeousness,_ and _Jo-AnnMarie,_ _SevviesMistress, _and _yoblossom._

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ThouandI: I _almost_ made up for the long delay? If I get this chapter out sooner will I have fully made up for the lack of updating?

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Eleonora1: Why don't we just settle with us _both_ being evil bastards? **:-P**

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I have been bullied into adding a new character (by a very daft mutt) called Aiden Michael Turner, because well…I don't know…I can't stand up for myself :-D He has a secret (surprise surprise), and it isn't exactly important to the overall plot but it'll add a new sub-plot at least.

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These new students are both going into Gryffindor by the way, it would make them a bit more significant being in the same House as Hermione. Also, why would Hermione waste her time teasing a cousin in a different House? It would be much easier teasing one in the same House as herself.

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Chapter 20:_ Duties_

It was late the night of August 31st, and all was not well in Snape manor. The Lupins had left and with Remus also being absent, Severus and Hermione had been at each other's necks for nearly a week now. They did not lose an opportunity to argue (they had a lot to argue about as it turned out) and this evening was definitely _no_ exception.

"Its because I'm a girl, isn't it?"

"What?" Severus turned back to his daughter incredulously.

Hermione folded her arms and glared at the man, "If I had been a boy we would _not_ be having this argument right now. You probably wouldn't care what I did or whom I was going out with. You definitely would _not_ be this bloody protective either, can't you just it out for a while?"

Severus's eyes were narrowed, not as much as they would be if he were talking with someone he loathed, but enough to show that he wasn't taking this conversation too well. "You are my daughter, Hermione, you cannot just expect me to stop trying to protect you because you want a break. Even if you had been a son, I would still be this way," Hermione snorted. "Maybe not to this extent, but perhaps you will understand where I'm coming from when you have children of your own."

Hermione mouthed silently for a moment, she was at a loss for words for once, Severus had never spoken like that with her before. "…Maybe so, but I'm not your little girl anymore, throw some of this protectiveness Maria's way because I can look after myself…she needs it more."

…

Meanwhile at Twelve Grimmauld Place Sirius was sitting on his bed, back against the headboard and staring off into space. He was worried, Harry had barely spoken to him since he had told the boy about his father being back, Remus was off on a life-threatening mission, and now James was even weaker because he had contracted a summer flu. Not to mention he was missing Lucius.

The dark haired man was snapped out of his reverie when his bedroom door opened and closed quietly, through the dim light Sirius saw the slim blond figure of the man that he had been desperately missing, "Luce…what are you doing here?"

Lucius raised an eyebrow; "I missed you too."

Sirius smiled a little, "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting many visitors now that Rem's gone."

Lucius moved further into the room, he rested his cane against a chair and removed his robes and draped them over the back of the chair, conscious all the while of Sirius watching him. "I'm sure I could make an effort to keep you company more often," Sirius smiled a little. "Or permanently if Dumbledore gets his own way."

Sirius frowned, "What do you mean?"

Lucius sat down at the foot of Sirius's bed, and for the first time Sirius noticed just how stiffly the blond was moving, "Let's just say His Lordship is doubting my allegiance."

Sirius sighed, he got to his knees and crawled across the bed to Lucius's side "He hurt you again, didn't he?"

Lucius leaned back on his elbows and tipped his head back, "Its nothing I'm not used too, Sirius."

……

It was nearly one in the morning of September first now and Hermione was sitting in the middle of her bed, steaming over the arguments she had been having with her father. She didn't want to argue with him but it was true that they both had a lot to vent about, they couldn't argue with Remus and Maria didn't deserve suffering their tempers, so it was each other that had to suffer. A lot of the time they could have good, rational, intellectual debates with each other, but recently they had just been full-blown vicious arguments and they both gave as good as they got.

But as she sat there brooding, she was starting to feel quite guilty. Severus really didn't deserve it, he was stressed out and worried sick about Remus, Maria wasn't doing too well with only one parent around either, and now Hermione was acting up and just making it worse. She glanced down at the crack under her bedroom door and saw that there was light coming in under it, which could only mean that Severus was still wide awake. Hermione got up off her bed and headed out of her bedroom, she was going to apologise. She didn't want to start school on bad terms with the potions master, she knew he would only make lessons even more hellish for her than usual, that and she was feeling very guilty now.

After spending about five minutes searching for her father, Hermione finally found him in the library searching the shelves for something to read. Without saying a word she went over to the dark haired man, wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her head against his chest, much like a young child would when they were feeling down. "I'm sorry."

Severus sighed and draped his arms around his eldest daughter, "For?"

Hermione frowned a little; she should have expected that, as if he didn't already know. Although Remus always questioned her about why she was sorry if she said it, so she figured it was something Severus had picked up from the werewolf. "…For being such a bitch, as you so kindly put it, and I didn't mean the things I said…well, I didn't mean most of them…"

"Nor did I, for the most part," replied Severus finally.

Hermione pulled away from him a little bit so that she could see his face, "Can we forgive and forget, or not? Cause…I'd like too."

Severus frowned a little, as he studied her face for a few moments before nodding, "I guess we can," he pressed a kiss to his daughter's head. "You are still grounded though."

Hermione sighed, "I figured as much. Even still, can I ask a favour?"

Severus leaned against the bookcase, "Within reason, I suppose."

"Can you not harm Draco at school this year? Please?" asked Hermione hopefully. "I would rather like him to remain in one piece."

"I'll think about it," replied Severus, he wasn't fond at all of his daughter's sudden huge interest in the opposite sex, especially when that aspect of the opposite sex was a Malfoy. "You go and get some sleep, you have an early start."

Hermione nodded, "Okay… Night."

"Goodnight."

………

It was lunchtime on the Hogwarts Express and Hermione was back in a compartment with her friends after she and Draco had had their chat with the prefects about patrolling the train and what was to be expected when they arrived at school for the feast.

"I'm so hungry," said Ginny upon entering the compartment, she flopped down on the seat next to Hermione and took a couple of chocolate frogs off her friend. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Yes," Hermione grinned. "No, go ahead."

Ginny tore into the first chocolate frog box as she started speaking again, "So Mione, going to have fun working so close with Master Malfoy this year?"

Hermione snorted, "Yeah, I don't see why not," she noticed the scowling looks she was getting from Harry and Ron. "What? Dray and I are friends, you know that, it should be fun."

"Hey, where's your dad, anyway?" asked Ginny raising her eyebrows at the brown haired girl. "Back at…you know where, we heard that he's left."

"He's gone on a mission for Dumbledore," replied Hermione frowning a little, "I don't know where and I don't know why, he wouldn't tell me, and dad hasn't bothered to enlighten me yet either."

"Fair enough. Oh you know, I heard we were going to be having another new teacher this year."

"All the positions are filled, aren't they?" replied Harry curiously, ever since Lockhart had taught at Hogwarts he had been a bit dubious about new appointments, as they usually ended up having some dark secret or they were evil, or working for the Ministry.

Hermione shrugged, "Maybe someone left, I guess we'll find out at the feast anyway. It's definitely not the Defense position that is empty though, I know that much."

…

On the day of the Start of Term feast, Severus didn't usually turn up at Hogwarts until about an hour before the feast, but today he thought it would be best if he turned up earlier. He was so tired, and if he stayed at home any longer he knew he would fall asleep and he would probably not turn up until the next day, at least if he fell asleep in his quarters someone could easily come and get him. He had arrived about an hour ago his luggage shrunk down and Maria clinging to him, her little arms around his neck were almost throttling him.

Minerva had commented on the fact that he looked half dead and after their usual taunting of each other, she had been kind enough to take Maria off his hands for a few hours so that he could catch up on some much needed sleep. After he had given his daughter over to the Deputy Headmistress, Severus went down to his quarters, emptied his pockets of shrunken luggage and resized it before collapsing on the bed.

The potions master lay on his four-poster bed staring up at the Slytherin green canopy above him, still fully clothed, for about five minutes before his eyelids started to droop. Before he did fall asleep though, his last fully coherent thought was that he needed to find out where abouts Remus was right now from Dumbledore. But finally he did fall asleep with an image of Remus planted firmly on the front of his sleep-deprived mind.

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"Severus Snape, you complete and utter bastard," said Remus as soon as he entered his lover's office at Hogwarts.

"Got past the delightful Dolores Umbridge, I see," commented Severus as he practically ignored Remus's insult and continued marking some essays. "And what pray tell did I do to warrant such a charming endearment, may I ask?"

Remus clicked his tongue irritably, "What's this I hear about you and Sirius nearly killing each other during the Christmas break?"

Severus snorted quietly, "Just a little disagreement, nothing more."

Remus narrowed his eyes slightly, "Over what? Harry's Occlumency?"

"Something of the sort, yes."

"You don't give a rat's arse, do you?" replied Remus folding his arms over his chest.

"Interesting choice of words."

"You are an infuriating git, you know that?"

Severus settled back in his chair and smirked at Remus, "You knew that long before you hopped into bed with me."

"I was young and naïve."

Severus quirked his eyebrows, "You're thirty six, Remus, you can't still be that naïve."

Remus growled quietly, "Perhaps not, but I've made a lot of mistakes in my life."

"Remus, do shut up," Severus got to his feet and went around the desk, thoroughly enjoying the effect that he was having on the werewolf.

"You can't tell me to-" Remus's indignant reply was cut short when Severus grabbed him by the front of his robes and crushed their lips together, effectively stopping anything else Remus may have said. The brown haired man tried to struggle away for a few moments, feebly smacking Severus on a shoulder before he gave in and succumbed to the insistent mouth moving against his own.

Severus finally broke the kiss, a hand still clutching the front of Remus's robes, "What was that you were saying?"

Remus appeared to be a little dazed by the turn of events, and his anger seemed to have been forgotten, "…I don't know…"

"Good," Severus wrapped his arms around the werewolf's waist and kissed him again…

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KNOCK. KNOCK.

Severus groaned and rolled over on the bed, why did the best parts of his dreams always have to be interrupted by some inconsiderate idiot? It was probably McGonagall or Dumbledore…or even that Lupin twit, either way he didn't want to speak with any of them right now, he wanted to **_sleep._**

The drowsy professor forced himself to his feet and he stumbled blearily out of his bedroom and to the door of his quarters, upon opening the door he was met with the amused face of the 'Lupin twit'. "What the hell do you want, Lupin?"

Romulus smirked, "Are you always this charming?" Severus gave him the glare that he used to make first years cry. "Sorry. Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know that Remus is perfectly well and safe, he is in Romania and he is yet to find the colony over there."

Severus blinked, his mind was very hazy and he was barely registering what Romulus was saying, "Right… Is that all?"

Romulus nodded slowly, he was looking a tiny bit concerned now, "Severus, are you feeling all right?"

"Nothing uninterrupted sleep won't fix," replied Severus, "Now if you don't mind, I would like to get back to that."

"Okay, see you later."

After Severus had closed the door sharply in his face, Romulus sighed and left the potion master's part of the castle. He thought that that man seriously needed some help, or maybe he just wasn't cut out for single parenting, although the Lupin-Snape kids were practically little angels compared to some.

…

After he had rudely gotten rid of Lupin, though he was certain that the man didn't expect anything else, Severus collapsed on his couch, he really couldn't be bothered making it to his bedroom. He didn't think he had lacked that much sleep, but he was just so exhausted right now, maybe he was dying or something, or coming down with some nasty illness…

……

"Ah, sanctuary!" cried Ginny as soon as she and Hermione entered the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts that evening. "I missed this place, I really did."

Hermione laughed, "Yeah, freedom from my family at last…well…most of them," she added upon spotting her cousin Trinny with a group of fifth year girls who she seemed to have made friends with already. "I am so hungry…"

"Granger!"

Hermione turned around to see Professor McGonagall coming towards her, "Hello, Professor."

"Good evening," said McGonagall courteously. "Granger, you and Mr. Malfoy are to come to the staffroom after the feast is over… No need to look so worried, it is just a briefing on your Head Student duties."

Hermione nodded, "Okay then."

……

Severus had his head resting on his hand at the staff table, he was still half-asleep and he had been rudely awakened by a loud hammering on his door, which had caused him to fall off the couch. He was only half listening to the Sorting; there was a rather small influx of first years this year, plus two new fifth years that had been transferred from Beauxbatons. Severus heard his House's name called seven times by the Sorting Hat, so there weren't many little brats for him to pick on in his own House this year.

The Potions master was aware that he was getting a few strange looks from the students and some of the staff, mainly because he was usually so alert at the feasts. He cast a quick glance over at the Gryffindor Table and saw Hermione frowning at him in a way that was very reminiscent of Remus. He soon averted his gaze and glanced down at the table in boredom and drowsiness, not even bothering to listen to Dumbledore start of term speech. It wasn't like he needed to listen anyway, the staff were always retold everything after the feast during their annual start of term meeting with the Head Students. He silently groaned as it hit him, the power of taking ample points and Head Prefect detentions were now in the hands of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. There would be no end to the amount of students complaining about unfair treatment, he didn't want to think about what Hermione would do this own students, not to mention what Draco would do to everyone else. It was usually the teachers that had to take the Head Prefect detentions, so they would have to suffer like the students.

What ever had possessed Dumbledore to give two of the most power hungry students in the school their wish? Though now that Severus thought about it, he couldn't recall Hermione being overly happy about getting the position in the summer, when she became a Prefect she was ecstatic but upon becoming Head Girl she just shrugged and casually mentioned it during breakfast the day she got the letter. It was very unlike her, but then she had taken quite an attitude change over the last year or so.

…

Down at the Gryffindor table, a lot of people were crowding around the new students to ask where they were from, why they transferred, who their parents were, and the like. Hermione rolled her eyes and prayed that Trinny wasn't stupid enough to go against her orders and mention that they were related. The new boy, Aiden, however, seemed to be quite the shy one. He seemed very soft-spoken and didn't really make eye contact when someone spoke to him. Trinny on the other hand, was being very loud and very animated, and throwing goggle-eyed looks at Harry every now and then.

Harry was looking quite irritated at this unwanted attention, though he was quite irritable about a lot of things at the moment and Hermione felt sure it was all to do with him not being informed earlier about his father being alive. She couldn't blame him really; she felt she would have liked to have known about it straight away if it was one of her parents.

"You all right, Harry?"

Harry looked up from his food to see Hermione watching him curiously, "Yeah…I guess so. Just dreading starting classes tomorrow, that's all."

Hermione frowned a little, "I think you should go and talk to him, Harry."

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Talk to whom?"

"You know exactly whom I mean," replied Hermione pointedly, she hadn't planned on letting onto Harry that she knew about his father but it seemed to be getting him really down. "He's probably aching to speak with you."

Harry narrowed his eyes a little, "How did you know about it?"

Hermione sighed, "I'll tell you later, okay? When I've finished in the staffroom with Draco."

"Fine."

……

It was just after nine now and Draco and Hermione had just arrived at the staffroom. Unlike Draco who seemed quite cool and calm about this, Hermione was rather nervous about this, it felt quite weird to be invited into the staffroom for meetings with the teachers and practically be treated like an equal by them all. Well, all of them except for the charming Potions master, but that was to be expected.

The two teenagers were in the staffroom for nearly an hour being told everything they needed to know about their new positions of minor power. They were told that they could now deduct points and give detentions (with good reasons, anyway), they had to organise the Prefect rosters; they were to watch over and protect the new first years, and they were to attend staff meetings once a month with any complaints that the other students had. On top of that, the two of them had to get up extra early tomorrow morning to welcome the new teacher, Professor Wright (who was to teach Arithmancy), to the school because he had not yet arrived.

All in all, it seemed that the two of them really had their work cut out for them this year. They were also supposed to report anything overly suspicious to their Heads of Houses and Dumbledore.

The only good thing about being the Head Students was that they now had their very own shared common room and private dormitories if they so chose to use them. Severus of course, wasn't too happy about this because both Hermione and Draco expressed great interest in this.

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"Headmaster, I must disagree about allowing these two within the same living space for the year."

"Oh don't be such a prude, dad."

……

After the horrendously boring staff meeting, Severus retreated to his quarters with Maria. He put his daughter to bed, with half-true promises that she would be able to see daddy again soon, which was honestly breaking his heart because he had no idea when or if they would be able to see Remus again. After that, he stripped his clothes off, climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep.

…

In the mean time, Harry had sneaked up to the Hogwarts Infirmary under his invisibility cloak to see his father. He quietly entered the vast infirmary, making sure that Madame Pomfrey didn't hear him, he then crept over to the only closed off bed in the infirmary and moved through the curtains. There, on the bed was the rather pale form of James Potter, seeing his father very alive and only a few feet away from him caused Harry to gasp rather loudly.

"Who's there?"

Harry chewed his bottom lip as he saw his father slowly sit up. What should he do? He didn't know whether he should reveal himself or not, but this was as good a chance as any to say 'hi dad' wasn't it? It was then that he saw James reach for his wand on the bedside table, and Harry made his decision. He let the hood of the Invisibility Cloak fall off his head, "Hi…dad…"

James's hazel eyes widened slightly at seeing his son materialise out what seemed like mid-air, "Harry…."

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To Be Continued…

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A/N: Hehe, you probably all hate me now, don't you? I've given you a lot of cliffhangers in the last few days.

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Next Chapter: How did the meeting between Harry and James go? Draco/Hermione action. Who is Aiden Turner? Some of Professor Wright. Contact with Remus is lost. Harry finds out about Lucius and Sirius's relationship. Some other stuff when I think of it.


	21. Familiaritas Part 1

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Late One Night

Disclaimer: I do not own incredibly much, read previous chapters to find out what I own. I own Professor Wright as well.

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Thank yous:_ Senoritatito, orlin, Mistress Vamp, Sarahamanda, ThouandI, SaintEmo, Lafawnduh4, Sesshomaru-is-my-master, brilliantbrunette89, bookluva629, iamtherealmaverick, Fallen Angel of Hell, Jo-AnnMarie, yoblossom, frk-werewolf,_ _Elvine, im no muggle, Jesterqueen,_ _SilverGlitterSprite, Marblez,_ _Sairiniakilania,_ _wiccan-witch88,_ _dancergirl,_ and_ angelchick128._

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Sarahamanda: Lucius and Narcissa divorced quite a few chapters ago, it was briefly mentioned during a conversation between Draco and Hermione. Mentioned back in Chapter 14.

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Jesterqueen: Krum is/was Bulgarian.

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Sairiniakilania: The mission hasn't been mentioned yet, but it will be this chapter. No, Sev ain't doing well at all…

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Just for clarification, and I probably should've said this during the story already, Severus isn't and can not get pregnant unless he uses a certain fertility potion which he would have to make. He is not stupid enough to make it and take it himself. However, a male werewolf is able to get pregnant without potions if they do the dirty the day directly before and after a full moon (they would have to be on the bottom by the way).

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It is 2004 in this story by the way. So by the time Hermione's seventh year is finished it will be 2005.

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Thanks to the real Aiden (Daft Mutt) for helping me write the character.

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I apologise in advance for some of the things I am going to do to certain characters this chapter.

Yet another two parter chapter because I've been told by the aforementioned mutt that I need to update quicker.

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Chapter 21:_ Familiaritas: Part 1_

It was early in the evening on the Friday of the first week back at Hogwarts and Hermione was fast asleep on the huge black couch in the common room that she shared with Draco. She hadn't slept much the night before due to having a nightmare about Remus being killed on his little mission and after dinner last night she had found out exactly what the mission was.

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"Dad, I want to know."

"Hermione, no."

"Don't I deserve the right to know? If he dies, what exactly were you planning on telling Maria and I? Were you just hoping for us to accept that he's dead, no questions asked-"

"All right!"

Hermione closed her mouth immediately, perhaps she shouldn't have persisted quite so much, but she was anxious to know. Although now that she had pissed Severus off he either wouldn't tell her or he'd just make her pay for it by being extra nasty during classes.

Severus took a deep breath to try and calm himself down a little, "Dumbledore requested that he travelled the world to try and recruit the werewolf colonies-"

"I knew it!"

"Then why the hell did you ask?"

Hermione hesitated, "Well…I suspected…I mean, he said it was something that only he could do and being a werewolf sets him apart from everyone else in the Order…" Before Severus could say anything else, she continued on. "Anyway, isn't it a pointless task? I've read enough to know that the various colonies aren't full of the most pleasant people around, and apparently they're particularly vicious towards the more privileged of their kind."

Severus fell into an armchair in his quarters and closed his eyes, "I know, that's why I tried to stop him from going."

Hermione folded her arms, "Why didn't he listen…does he want to get himself killed?"

Severus opened his eyes again, "Apparently…"

Draco entered the shared Head Student common room and dropped his bag of books on the floor, causing Crookshanks to cry out and run away because it had landed on his tail.

Hermione groaned, "…Can't you do anything quietly?"

"No," replied Draco, he pushed Hermione's legs off the couch, nearly causing her to fall off of it, and then he sat down in the space. "Anyway, you shouldn't be sleeping so early in the day."

Hermione rolled her eyes and curled back up on the couch, "Fuck off, Malfoy."

Draco raised his eyebrows in amusement, "Such a charming young lady, your parents must be proud."

Hermione grabbed her cushion off the floor and before Draco could react, she hit him round the head with it. "I'm trying to sleep," she decided to give up though and started to get to her feet, but Draco grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down onto his lap. "Lemme go, you bully…"

Draco laughed quietly and kissed her on the neck, "Why would I want to do that? I quite like having my hands all over you."

Hermione snorted and settled back into his arms, "Yes, I've certainly noticed that…my dad has as well."

Draco groaned, "Do you always have to kill the mood?"

Hermione giggled and pressed a kiss to his lips, "Yes, I do, dear boy. But now, I would like some dinner."

…

Remus had been on his mission for a good few weeks now, but so far, he had had absolutely no luck whatsoever in his task. He was currently hiking through a forest in Italy, in search of the Italian werewolf colony. The only breakthrough that he had made so far on his mission was talking around two of the Romanian werewolves, but after he had sent a message to Dumbledore telling of his minor success, the two werewolves were killed by the rest of their colony. They had then proceeded to threaten Remus's life unless he left immediately and never came back. This mission wasn't particularly frightening to him, but he really did not like having his life threatened so he had fled straight away, and continued his searching elsewhere.

Remus stopped in his tracks, he dropped his bag to the ground and sat down on a rock, he was starting to wish that he had listened to Severus's arguing and stayed back in England. He was thinking that perhaps he should just give up now and go home, report to Dumbledore that it was a lost cause, and ask for something else marginally useful that he could do for the Order. Though leaving a job only half finished was something he really hated doing, it made him feel like a failure – Severus was the same, as was Hermione and probably Maria would be too if he considered the genetics.

Severus, Hermione and Maria – Remus sorely missed his family, little Maria in particular. He was scared about how she would handle going through the next full moon without him, there was only so much that Severus could do to help her through it. It was decided now, he would spend one more week searching and then he would go home and be with his family.

The tired werewolf scratched his head before bending down to get his drink canteen out of his bag; it would magically refill every time it became close to emptying so he was never without liquid.

However, having his mind fully occupied right now was a terrible piece of judgement on Remus's part, as he did not hear anyone approaching him from behind. The first thing he knew of it was the sudden pain in his head when he was hit with something very hard.

Then everything went black.

………

"Hello, Madame Pince," said Hermione upon entering the library on Saturday afternoon, unusual for her, this was the first time she had been to the library since school had started. "Any new books?"

Madame Pince smiled slightly, "Hello to you too, and yes, there are a few new books but I have not yet finished processing them so you are going to have to wait."

Hermione slumped her shoulders, "Okay," she headed for a table near the back of the library to do some of her work, but as she walked, she saw the new Gryffindor boy sitting at a table all on his own so she went over to him. "Aiden, isn't it?"

The boy, Aiden, looked up at her as though he had only just realised that there were other people present in the library. "Eh yeah…"

"Do you mind?"

"No…"

Hermione smiled a little and sat down at the table adjacent to where he was sitting, she started pulling her books out of her bag as she spoke again, "How has your first few days been at Hogwarts?"

Aiden gave a little shrug, "All right, I guess."

Hermione raised her eyebrows slightly, this boy was definitely very shy, the few times she had seen him with other people he had avoided eye contact with them. "You're very quiet…don't look so alarmed, it's a nice change from people that don't shut up, the Head Boy for example."

Aiden gave a little shrug, "Guess I'm just used to not always speaking, and having all this attention…I have a lot of siblings…"

"Ah, okay," Hermione nodded slowly. "I only have one sibling, she's five and she doesn't talk much. So um…why did you transfer to Hogwarts? Sorry if I seem too forward, I'm quite a curious person."

Aiden glanced up at her and gave a small smile, "Everyone seems to be pretty curious."

"Well, you're new, so everyone's going to see you as a bit of an attraction for the first few weeks," replied Hermione, as she opened her potions book to the right page so that she could start on her essay.

"Oh potions…I quite like that."

Hermione smirked, "You are one of the very few students who enjoy it then, and it is definitely a rarity in Gryffindor. You and I are probably the only ones in that House that do enjoy the subject."

"The others in my class already think I'm weird for paying attention in that class."

Hermione smiled, it seemed as though she had found Aiden's weak spot – Potions, which just happened to be something she knew a lot about as well. "Mm yeah, its really interesting, especially at N.E.W.T level. It isn't always easy though…"

Aiden nodded in agreement, "Professor Snape is a bit…it's a bit unusual for a teacher to be quite that cruel…"

Hermione snorted with laughter, "Trust me, he gets worse as the year goes on, and the fact that you're in Gryffindor will probably just make it harder."

"Yeah, I've already been warned by the others about that," replied Aiden, he was feeling quite a bit more confident now. Hermione was the first person that had actually taken the time to sit down with him and have a proper conversation, and he quite liked her for that.

"I might ask him if I can be an apprentice," thought Hermione out loud.

"He'd probably say no."

"Probably."

……

Later that day Hermione headed to Gryffindor Tower so that she could see Harry, she hadn't asked him about meeting his dad yet, but it appeared to have gone well because he wasn't quite as grumpy as he had been. She headed up to the Seventh Year Boys' Dorm where she had been told Harry was, upon arriving at the dorm she knocked loudly on the door.

"You can come in!"

Hermione opened the door and closed it behind her, "Hey, Harry."

Harry looked up from his Quidditch magazine, "Hey, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Hermione smiled slightly and sat down on his bed, "I was just wondering how it went with your dad…"

Harry put down his magazine and crossed his legs; "It went pretty well, after we'd both gotten over the initial shock. He was very…or overly apologetic though…"

"I'm sure he was filled in on your last few years of life."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, he told me that Sirius had been telling him everything that I've told him," he paused a moment before he continued speaking again. "How did you know he was alive?"

Hermione sighed, "You know how he was brought back, yeah?" Harry nodded. "When I was having my Occlumency lessons I took a peak at the notes on dad's desk for the Draught of Life, and he caught me at it. Then after shouting at me he let me help him make it, like take notes and chop ingredients and stuff; I was also allowed to be present when the Draught was administered to James." Harry's eyebrows were raised in question now. "Dad threatened to lock me down in the dungeons if I told you what they were doing."

"Oh…But still…"

"You know as well as I do that he would follow through with a threat like that," said Hermione reading her friend's mind. "I mean, how many times has he tried to poison you in the past?"

"Fair point."

…

Remus groaned loudly as he slowly came out of his previous unconscious state. What had happened to him? Where was he? Why was his head so painful? All he could remember was stopping for a rest during his hike through the forest, and now he was waking up in pain and discomfort somewhere that he did not particularly want to think about. He forced himself into a sitting position, his sides hurt like hell and his head was pounding, but as soon as he was sitting he was overcome with a bout of nausea and he threw up on the dirt covered ground he was on. After emptying whatever food he had left in his stomach, Remus started coughing, and upon removing his hand from his mouth he saw blood…

What had happened to him?

………

It was late Sunday night now and Severus had just been called into the Headmaster's office, upon getting there he found that the 'Lupin twit' and the 'bloody mutt' were there as well, which could only mean one thing. Dumbledore wanted to speak with them about Remus, after all, there wasn't much that the three men shared the same amount of concern about.

Dumbledore surveyed the three men over the top of his half moon glasses, "I am sure the three of you can guess why I have called you here at this late hour," all he got in response were three raised right eyebrows. "Remus was supposed to have sent word to me on Friday evening about the progress of his mission, I thought perhaps the delay was due to the distance between himself and Hogwarts, but now it has been far too long. The last I did hear from him, was that he was crossing into Italy, as I am fairly certain that he is still within the vicinity of that country I will be sending a team out-"

"I want to be on the team," said all three men in unison almost immediately.

Dumbledore sighed, "I was expecting that, and my answer is 'no'," he received three scowls off the men in front of him this time. "The three of you are needed more in Britain. You, Sirius, need to be at the Headquarters," he turned his gaze to the other two men. "And you two, are needed at Hogwarts."

"For all we know, he could be dead," said Severus in as calm a voice as he could manage. "How are you meant to find a corpse?"

Sirius chewed his bottom lip, "As much as I don't want to think it may have happened, Dumbledore, he has a point."

"Especially if Rem had no Tracking Charms on him," added Romulus, he was slouched in his chair and chewing a fingernail nervously.

"That is definitely a possibility," replied Dumbledore slowly. "I am inclined to believe that Remus may have been captured by Death Eaters, and if so, I am fairly certain they would not be killing him any time soon."

Severus arched an eyebrow, "They have tried before, Dumbledore, nothing is stopping them from doing it again, with or without the Dark Lord's orders. I will be holding you fully responsible if he is dead."

……

"Rom, you heard him. Its like he _wants_ Remus to be dead," said Sirius after he and Romulus had left the meeting with Dumbledore. The two were now in Romulus's quarters to discuss what they had just been told, they were both in agreement that at least one of them should be on the team going to search for Remus.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows slightly, "I don't think its harsh at all… I just…I still don't trust him."

Romulus spoke as he poured them both a big glass of Firewhiskey, "Maybe so, but Dumbledore trusts him, _Remus_ trusts him, and I don't know about you but I trust the judgement of both of them. And really, do you honestly think Remus would have stayed with him if he's still as active as a Death Eater as you seem to think he is? There is no way Rem would have continued bringing those girls up with Severus if he thought there was any danger."

"Fine, but I still don't like him," grumbled Sirius, he took a sip of his Firewhiskey. "I thought you didn't like him either?"

"I'm not fond of him, but I don't hate him," replied Romulus, relaxing into his armchair. "Mind you, the way he's been since school has started…I'm getting a bit worried."

Sirius snorted, "Serves the bastard right if there's something wrong with him."

Romulus opened his mouth to put Sirius in his place, but in the end he decided not to bother. There was no point in trying to sway Sirius's mind now, it probably would have been easier had they been younger but now; you can't teach an old dog new tricks, after all.

……

It was the very early hours of Sunday morning now and Hermione was warm and snug in her big Head Girl's bed; she started to wake up though when she felt a cold breeze skate across her skin. She rolled over and groaned, "Draco…"

"I was getting lonely."

Hermione grumbled and curled up, hugging her pillow, "Can't you sleep with a stuffed toy or something? Maria has plenty, she'd lend you one," she felt her boyfriend spoon up behind her.

"Don't want a stuffed toy, I want you," whispered Draco, he kissed her on the back of the neck. "I'm so glad you've stopped wearing pajamas to bed."

Hermione snorted, "You're not getting my underwear off yet, Malfoy."

Draco trailed his fingers up and down one of Hermione's bare arms, "I'm going to have you out of them soon though, you little prude."

"I am not a prude," replied Hermione, she burrowed back into Draco's lithe body. "I just feel that I should only move onto that stuff if I feel the guy is really worth it."

"We've known each other for just over seventeen years, surely you've figured out whether I'm worth it or not."

Hermione smiled and closed her eyes again, "Oh I've definitely decided, I just don't feel ready yet," she frowned a little when Draco stayed silent. Perhaps he had fallen asleep? "Dray?"

Draco hugged her tightly in reply; "I'm glad you're not like some of the others…you have class."

"Oh Dray, stop trying to charm my knickers off me at this time of the morning," replied Hermione in amusement.

Draco huffed, "Hey, I'm being serious, you are far better than those cheap little sluts around the school."

Hermione shifted around in Draco's arms so that she could face him, she could just make out the silhouette of his head in the dark, "I was teasing, I know you're being serious, Dray," she pressed a kiss to his lips. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

There was silence for a few short moments before Hermione snorted with laughter and then Draco soon followed suit. What was so funny, they didn't know, they just felt the need to have a good 3am laugh.

………

The next day during classes Hermione was very side tracked, she spent most of the theory driven classes doodling on her parchment instead of taking notes, her mind was wandering, and every time the two Houses shared a class her eyes would keep travelling over to the blond on the other side of the classroom. It was something her teachers had certainly noticed as well, as she was usually quite attentive in classes.

"Hermione, stay behind please," said Romulus at the end of class on Monday, right before lunch.

Hermione stayed in her seat while the other students left, she folded her arms on the desk and yawned.

Once the students had all left, Romulus turned to his niece, "Are you all right?"

Hermione nodded, "I'm fine."

Romulus sat down on a chair in front of her, "Are you sure? Nothing on your mind? Nothing you want to discuss?"

Hermione forced herself not to smirk, and shook her head, "No, but it sounds like you have plenty you want to discuss with somebody."

Romulus gave a shrug, "Well, I just thought that maybe you might be worried about your parents…"

"I am," replied Hermione honestly. "But there's not really much I can do is there? I mean, one has disappeared across the world and the other…well he just refuses to listen to reason or logic, so I might as well just keep silent about it."

"So you did want to vent about something."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "No, but now that you've started me off… What is wrong with my father anyway? He looks like he's on the verge of passing out every day, I mean, I've tried asking him but he practically physically threw me out of his office."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Romulus leaned back in his chair. "Personally, I'm just going to keep my nose out of his business now, because I really don't want him to hex me again."

Hermione huffed, "Well, you're a load of help."

"I try, darling."

"Oh ha ha…" Hermione got to her feet and heaved her bag over her shoulder. "Is that all? Can I have some lunch now? I'd rather not be hungry during potions, he might poison me or something."

Romulus snorted, "Go, you irritating brat."

Hermione was already at the door when he spoke, after hearing his comment though; she just laughed and left the classroom. As she wandered down a corridor in the direction of the Great Hall and lunch, she squeaked when she found herself being pulled into an empty classroom.

"Don't hit me again."

Hermione spun around and found herself face to face with the blond father of her equally blond boyfriend, "Bloody hell! What are you trying to do to me!"

Lucius held up a leather gloved hand, "Shut up, will you? I haven't got long," Hermione closed her mouth but she looked highly affronted. "Has your father been any different than usual lately?"

"Different, how?"

"Behaviour, personality…health?"

Hermione sat on a desk in front of Lucius, "Well…he has been acting odd, I suppose, since dad left. I mean, he's been more irritable even with Maria, and…well, he seems tired all the time, more pale, he looks like he's constantly on the brink of collapsing… He's definitely losing weight, as well, I haven't seen him eating much at meal times, if he turns up that is… Why?"

Lucius ran a hand through his hair, which was unusually unkempt for him, "That's what I was afraid of…"

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "What?"

Lucius leaned against a desk and fixed his silvery eyes on his Goddaughter, "Last year, after the last Death Eater meeting that Severus attended, he was tortured-"

"Yeah, I know. Where are you going with this?"

"Right, well, I think one of the curses that the Dark Lord used on him is what is causing this change in him."

Hermione frowned, "You mean its taken nearly a year for this curse to work?"

Lucius shook his head, "No, I think it has taken nearly a year for this curse to break his system down to cause these problems."

Hermione sighed and looked down at the ground, "He's… Its going to kill him, isn't it?"

Lucius took a small vial of clear liquid out of a pocket, "Not if we can get this antidote into him soon," Hermione looked back up at him. "Which is why I am telling you, because I need you to get it into him."

"How?"

"Spike a drink, maybe?" Lucius checked his watch and held out the vial to Hermione. "I'm going to have to leave it up to you, I have somewhere I need to be."

Hermione took the vial off him, "Are you sure it will work?"

"No, I'm not, but at the moment it's the best chance we have," Lucius headed for the door. "Let me know if it changes anything, all right?"

"I will."

……

After having potions today, Hermione had decided that she would try and get Lucius's antidote into her father this evening after dinner; he really wasn't looking well at all, and if this antidote would help him then she needed to use it soon.

"Where are you going?" asked Draco from the couch he was sprawled out on as Hermione headed for the portrait hole of their private common room.

"I need to go see my dad."

Draco snorted, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Hermione left the Head Students' common room and headed slowly for the dungeons, she needed at least some form of a plan to get him to drink this antidote. She knew he would think it suspicious if she was too nice about it and wanted to share drinks with him, but what else could she do? There was always brute force, but she wasn't that big and Severus could easily over power her. _Maybe I should stun him…_ She entered the Potions classroom and headed straight for her father's office where she knew he would be, without knocking she just went straight in, sat down on a chair in front of his desk, folded her arms on said desk and gazed unblinkingly at him.

"What do you want?" Severus didn't look at his daughter, but his voice was harsh.

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "I'm offended, dad, don't you want to spend some quality time with your daughter?"

Severus huffed quietly, "Not particularly, no. And I refuse to believe that you came down here just for 'quality time'."

Hermione ploughed on, unfazed by her father's attitude towards her; she was quite used to it, after all. "Can I get you a drink?"

"No."

"How about a hot chocolate? That would be good, Maria might like one," Hermione got to her feet and headed for the hallway that led to the potions master's quarters. She noticed Severus was about to speak again, a nasty look on his face. "Hold that thought."

Severus let out a low growl as his daughter disappeared into his quarters; he really could not be doing with her right now, especially if she was going to be like this. Could he not just be left in peace for _one_ evening?

…

Hermione had called Dobby the house-elf from her father's quarters to ask him for three mugs of hot chocolate, her thoughts on house-elf slavery forgotten for now, as this antidote was at the forefront of her mind right now. "Thank you, Dobby."

"Dobby is happy to do so, Miss. Dobby thinks Professor Snape, sir, needs some help."

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "You're not the only one, Dobby, and helping him is precisely what I am trying to do."

Dobby grinned, but he didn't leave straight away, instead he took on a rather thoughtful pose and expression, "Dobby is wondering…" Hermione glanced back at him again as she tipped Lucius's antidote into one of the mugs. "If Miss is certain it is a good idea to be with Dobby's former young master…"

"I know the Malfoys treated you horribly, Dobby," started Hermione before she put a magical mark on the mug with the antidote in so that she wouldn't confuse them. "But I can handle both Draco and Lucius, they're both afraid of my fists."

Dobby still looked uncertain but then he nodded, his big ears flapping from the motion, "Okay, Miss! Dobby will leave now."

Hermione smiled, "Goodbye, Dobby," after the house-elf had gone, she picked up the three mugs of hot chocolate, hers and Maria's in one hand and Severus's spiked one in the other. "Maria, come on."

"Otay!" Maria got up and followed her big sister. "I miss daddy, do you know wherwe he is?"

Hermione hesitated, "…I honestly couldn't say, kid, but I miss him too."

Maria pouted, "Daddy's not bein' vewy nice."

"I know, he's…he's just having a bad time right now, he's missing dad too," replied Hermione, she kicked the quarters' door closed behind her before leading Maria down the narrow hallway and back to Severus's office. "Drink."

Severus glared at her, "I am not thirsty," he silently groaned when Hermione sat back down, looking as though she had every intent of staying until he did as she told him too. "Is it your life's task to annoy me to death?"

Hermione shrugged and sipped her own drink, before transfiguring a book into a chair for Maria, "If that's what you want to think… Drink up, I'm not leaving until you do."

"You can not order me around, and like I said, I am _not_ thirsty."

Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly; she could be just as stubborn as Severus could if this was how he wanted to play it, "Everybody needs some sustenance, dad, especially those that don't _eat_ for days on end."

Maria was looking wide-eyed between her father and her big sister, not entirely sure what to think, except that even she could tell that one of them was probably going to end up hurting the other sooner or later. But she wanted her dad to be nice to her again; she didn't like it when he was in bad moods.

"What I do and do not do, is none of your concern."

Hermione held her father's gaze levelly as she pulled her wand out from her sleeve, "You're not leaving me much choice here, dad… Accio wand!" Severus's wand shot out of his own sleeve and straight into his hand.

"Hey, give that back!"

Hermione shook her head, she pointed the two wands in her free hand at his mug, "Drink that and I'll give it back."

Severus looked as though he would like nothing more than to smack his daughter right now, but he reluctantly picked up the mug of hot chocolate, knowing full well that she had done something to it. He kept his nasty glare fixed on Hermione's calm face as he brought the mug to his lips and took a sip.

"All of it."

Severus practically snarled at her before he quickly downed the rest of his drink, "Happy?"

"Very," replied Hermione serenely, she handed Severus his wand back and put her own mug on his desk. "Goodnight," she ruffled Maria's hair and left the office quickly, in case Severus hexed her on the way out. When Hermione got back to her and Draco's common room she practically fell into her boyfriend's arms, "Hold me…I think my dad might try and kill me."

Draco was taken by surprise but he held her anyway, "Why?"

Hermione buried her face against his shoulder; "I just took his wand and forced a potion down his throat…"

"Well that's your own fault," said Draco unsympathetically. "Why would you do that?"

"Lucius told me too."

Draco frowned, "My father talking to you forgotten…why did you do as he told you?"

Hermione lifted her head and sighed, "Because he's trying to help dad that's why… I'm going to go and have a shower," she got to her feet. "And no, you can't join me."

"Spoil my fun, Granger."

………

Throughout breakfast and lunch the next day Hermione kept a close eye on the potions master, as he had turned up to both meals for once. Her friends had certainly noticed her odd behaviour today but they didn't bother to ask because she had been ignoring them all morning anyway. While she watched Severus, she saw that he had noticed her intent gaze and he returned it with a glare as he ate a rather decent amount of the food that he had not been touching for around a week and a half now. After making sure that Severus finished his food, half way through lunchtime, Hermione got up from Gryffindor table, her own food barely touched, and headed off to her uncle's classroom.

"Hey 'Mione."

Hermione smiled, "Hi, can I use your fireplace?"

Romulus drew his eyebrows together at the odd request but he nodded, "Yeah, floo powder's on the mantle."

"Great, thanks," Hermione headed into Romulus's office and closed the door, she grabbed the floo powder off the mantle and knelt down in front of the fire. She threw a handful of the powder into the lit fire and said loud and clearly, "Malfoy Manor!" After the not entirely unpleasant experience of her head going through the floo networks to Malfoy Manor, she found herself facing the legs of a man in black robes and shoes. "Lucius?" The man in front of her turned towards the fire and knelt down, and she finally saw the face that belonged to the feet.

"Hermione, this is sooner than I expected."

Hermione shrugged, "Well, I managed to force it into him last night, at great personal risk, mark you…and he seems to be better… I mean, he ate plenty at breakfast and lunch, if that means anything."

Lucius narrowed his eyes slightly in thought, "Well, it could be the antidote… But keep me posted anyway, and send it by owl next time," he glanced cautiously around himself. "I don't think flooing will be safe anymore, for you, anyway."

Hermione frowned, "All right. See you later."

"Bye."

Hermione pulled her head out of the floo chat and got to her feet, trying to get the ache out of her legs from kneeling on the cold stone floor.

"Should I be worried about your reasons for being in communication with Lucius Malfoy?"

Hermione spun around to see Romulus leaning against the doorframe to his office, "Um…well, I mean, I'm just so in love with him and his son, so I thought I would try and arrange a time that the three of us can get together."

Romulus blinked owlishly at her, "You're a sick little girl, Hermione Granger, get out."

Hermione laughed and bowed to her uncle, "Yes sir," she picked up her schoolbag and left the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's office.

The rest of the day went smoothly enough, Hermione found herself being completely ignored in potions by their professor who didn't even come near the desk she was working at; but at least Severus had eaten something at every meal today, which meant he must be getting a little better.

By the next day though, everything went horribly, _horribly_ wrong.

It was half way through the Seventh year potions class that Hermione noticed the abrupt change in Severus, he had eaten again at breakfast this morning but now he wasn't looking too good. She kept glancing up from her potion to watch as he father wandered around his classroom, rubbing his forehead every few minutes like it was paining him.

Severus went back up to the front of the classroom and leaned against his desk, he squeezed his eyes shut briefly before gazing hazily around the room; he noticed, as he did this, Hermione watching him intently once again. He did wish she would stop that, but he could understand, obviously she was concerned about him but he really didn't need it. Did he?

A few students had noticed the extra paleness in their professor now, not to mention the slight swaying from side to side that he was doing.

A Slytherin girl decided to speak up, "Professor, are you all right?"

Severus started to open his mouth to reply, but all that happened were his eyes rolling back in his head and a hard fall to the floor.

__

"Dad!"

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To Be Continued…

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A/N: Oh I'm so cruel to these people… And sorry for the long wait, and the fact that this is a cliffhanger…

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Next Chapter: Is Hermione's parentage out? Is Remus all right? More about Aiden and Romulus, as well as a bit more of Maria… Oh, and will Severus be all right?


	22. Familiaritas Part 2

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**Late One Night**

**Disclaimer:** JK Rowling owns everything that I did not create… Damn.

**Thank yous:**_SaintEmo, Tubs, MoonyPadfootJr, EsScaper, ThouandI, Sarahamanda, 'Mione and Sevvie, yoblossom, Remusgrl101, SilverGlitterSprite, ForsakenChilde, Marblez, Nic6590, Victoria, honeyduked, Fallen Angel of Hell, Mizuki hikari, snowflakelupin,Neous, Lady Orient. _

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If I have missed anyone out, I'm sorry, but thank you for reviewing!

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******_Sorry for the long delay! Be thankful the _Half-Blood Prince_ came out, because that gave me the inspiration to continue with this fic!_**

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******NOTE:** Happenings in the** _Half-Blood Prince_ **will not bear any changes upon this story – particularly the big death and the murderer.However, saying that, as we were introduced to a few new things in the book, I may employ them into story – I will place SPOILER at the beginning of a chapter if so, for at least a couple of months after July. That is, of course, if I deem it spoiler worth.

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******Chapter 22:**_Familiaritas: Part 2_

Remus was on his hands and knees on the cave floor, he was trapped in a cage that had been erected while he had been unconscious; his breathing was erratic, he was in so much pain. He was certain that it had been at least a week and a half since he had been knocked out while on his path to find one of the Italian werewolf colonies; knocked out by Death Eaters, which had not surprised him one bit.

"Lupin, you are really irritating me now."

Remus forced himself upright, an arm tightly across his stomach, trying to support his ribs, some of which were no doubt broken from his beatings. "I have already told you…I don't know _anything_ about what you're asking of me! I don't know what else you expect me to say!"

"Crucio!"

Remus cried out as the force of the Cruciatus Curse hit him once again, the pain now was like nothing he had felt before; it was much worse than his nastiest of transformations. It was most probably worsened by the amount of injuries that he had sustained already.

All Remus could think after the curse was lifted off of him was that if this persisted, then he would probably never see his family again.

Just as he was starting to feel his world go black again, Remus heard an unfamiliar voice shout:

"Stupefy!"

…

"Hermione, you need to sleep," said Draco for about the sixth time in the last hour to his girlfriend. It had been two days since Severus had collapsed during their potions class and Hermione hadn't slept or ate since; it was now after midnight and she was sitting determinedly in an armchair in their common room. "You need to eat."

"No."

Draco sighed and slumped in the armchair opposite the brown haired girl, "Look, if anything was going to change with him, Madame Pomfrey would let you know. You need to look after yourself, 'Mione, I mean, if neither of your parents are around anytime soon, someone has to be there for Maria, don't you think?"

Hermione gazed at the blond, tears welling in her eyes; but Draco was certain that he had finally gotten through to her, "I-I…" she just burst into tears before she could get a proper sentence formed.

"'Mione…" Draco went over to his girlfriend, he pulled Hermione to her feet and hugged her tightly "Hey, don't cry, everything will be all right…"

………

Hermione spent most of the third day of her father being unconscious fast asleep; she had finally fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning in Draco's bed, in his arms. McGonagall had exempted her from classes for the rest of the week unless she felt that she could manage them, so when she was awake, Hermione sat at her father's bedside in hopes that he would wake up. Right now, it was the evening, she had managed a bit of dinner in the Great Hall but the constant stares and murmuring about her slip of shouting 'dad' when Severus had collapsed, made her leave Gryffindor table as quickly as she could get away.

The Head Girl was curled up in a chair beside the potion master's infirmary bed now, watching the slow but steady rise and fall of his chest. He was extremely pale (more so than usual), his jet-black hair was in stark contrast against his pale skin and the white of the infirmary bedding. As she sat there, Hermione couldn't help but think that this was at least partly her fault. Perhaps if she hadn't forced that antidote into him or mixed it with a drink, then he might still be all right and then perhaps he could have gotten proper help for whatever was wrong with him. She rested her head on a hand and closed her eyes just as she heard voices nearing the infirmary, they grew louder as who ever the people were entered the vast room.

The irritated voice of Madame Pomfrey then sounded, "Dumbledore, I have patients, don't you think you could- Oh my… Remus!"

Hermione was out of her chair in a flash upon hearing the name of her missing parent; she rushed out of her father's cubicle and nearly bowled Remus over by hugging him. "I'm so glad you're back!"

Remus was, needless to say, a bit surprised, not to mention a bit pained, as Hermione had just pushed against some of his injuries, "Anyone would think you missed me," he said in a strained voice.

"Hermione, let go," Dumbledore gently pulled Hermione away from Remus to allow Madame Pomfrey to sort him out. Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had helped find Remus, led the injured werewolf over to a bed before Dumbledore spoke again, to Madame Pomfrey this time. "Poppy, Remus has sustained many injuries through beatings and the Cruciatus Curse," Hermione squeaked.

"Very well," Poppy rushed over to Remus. "I am going to need some quiet, Dumbledore, so if you would please-"

"Certainly, Poppy," replied the old Headmaster curtly. "Kingsley, Hermione, if you would come with me, please."

"But-"

Dumbledore nudged Hermione out the door before she could stubbornly stay behind, "Kingsley, thank you for bringing Remus here. Could you go on to the Headquarters and inform Sirius and James that he is back?"

"Certainly."

Dumbledore watched Kingsley leave before he turned back to Hermione who had been inching back towards the infirmary door, "Hermione, please come along to my office, I have a proposition for you."

……

"Drink this Remus, it should lessen the discomfort somewhat," said Poppy, she handed Remus a goblet of a rather foul smelling potion.

Remus took the goblet and quickly gulped it down, he sighed and leaned back against the pillows after he had handed the goblet back to the school matron, "I am never doing something for Dumbledore again, if this is what happens… Who was Hermione seeing?"

Poppy hesitated a moment, "…She was visiting Severus- stay _still,_ Remus," she pushed the man back against the pillows by his shoulders. "His health has been on a severe decline since the summer holidays, and he passed out during his seventh year class three days ago. Your daughter looks as though she will be heading in the same direction if she does not sleep and eat any time soon. Now, I want you to recover a bit more before I allow you to sit with Severus, and I mean it, Remus, I want you to stay right where you are unless you need the bathroom. Understood?"

Remus nodded, "You remind me of my mother…"

"I have met your mother on many occasions, Remus," replied Poppy. "It is quite understandable that she is as over bearing as you think with you and Romulus for sons."

"Thanks."

…

Hermione sat in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, feeling slightly surprised, "You want me to be in the Order?" Dumbledore nodded. "But, I thought you wouldn't allow people still at school to be in the Order…I thought you had to be over-age and finished school…"

"That is true, yes," replied the wise old wizard. "But I do believe that you are eighteen now, yes?"

"I will be tomorrow," said Hermione quietly. "Wouldn't it make sense if Harry was in the Order before me though? I mean, he and Voldemort are the entire basis for this war, surely he has more right than I do."

Dumbledore nodded, "You are right, of course, however, times are getting more desperate. I would induct Harry into the Order today, as he has every right to be in it, like you said, but his father has made it clear to me that on no grounds must I do so until Harry has finished school. You, of course, would not be the first teenager still at school to be in the Order."

"Yeah, but Draco is a Death Eater as well, it makes sense that he would be…"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, "Was I mistaken in thinking that you would jump at this chance?"

"No!" said Hermione quickly. "No, I just find it a bit odd. I mean, why? What…what would I be able to do for the Order if I'm stuck at school until next June? I don't understand how I could be of any use, right now."

"The Order could use a brain like yours, Hermione," replied Dumbledore honestly. "I have not yet set a task for you to do, but all in good time," Hermione nodded slowly and curiously. "Now I do have another proposition for you…"

…

"So um, I take it Hermione wasn't exactly discreet when Professor Snape collapsed, yeah?" said Ginny quietly as she sat down at a table in Gryffindor common room opposite Harry and Ron.

Harry shook his head, "She said 'dad', and well, she wasn't exactly making an effort in pretending to dislike him, understandable, I suppose."

"Is she all right? I only saw her briefly at dinner this evening…" The two boys shrugged in reply so Ginny got to her feet. "Right, well, I'm going to go to the Head Students' common room to see if she's okay."

……

Later that night, Hermione was back in the common room with Draco, reading through a pile of notes that the Headmaster had given her after she had agreed to his second proposition. She had seen Ginny and gotten a hug off her friend before settling down in an armchair next to the fire.

Draco watched her silently for a few moments before putting his quill down and speaking, "I have to ask, why would the Headmaster give you reading material?"

Hermione snorted, "Dumbledore asked me if I would mind giving a bit of help towards the first to third year potions classes, as the professor is unconscious, and I said 'yes'."

"What do you mean by 'help'?"

"Along with the classes I am taking this year, I am now also a substitute professor of potions for the younger classes," replied Hermione to the curious blond. "So instead of attending my regular lessons in those time slots I have to pass my knowledge onto the first to third years, and catch up with my classes in the evenings and weekends."

"You're mad, you know that, don't you?" said Draco, he just could not understand Hermione's enjoyment of being overworked, it just wasn't normal… Was it? "Why only the first to third years?"

Hermione scratched her nose and made room for Crookshanks on her lap, "Because anymore of dad's classes and I would have to do all of mine after lessons and in weekends until he is able to teach again."

"Who's taking the other classes then?"

"Um, Dumbledore will take some, and the other teachers will share the bulk load between themselves, I think, unless he can find a suitable replacement."

"When do you start?"

Hermione yawned, "Tomorrow."

Draco raised his eyebrows, "Tomorrow's your birthday, do you enjoy torturing yourself?"

Hermione shrugged, "So what if its my birthday? I don't care."

"I do."

"And why should that change my mind?"

"Because…I'm your boyfriend, you twit, I might have had something planned."

Hermione arched an eyebrow, "Watch who you're insulting, little boy, I have the full powers of a professor now."

"Watch who you're calling 'little boy'…"

Hermione smiled serenely, "I will call you whatever I wish, Master Malfoy, you are after all, seven months my junior."

Draco huffed, "What's put you in such a good mood, anyway? You were depressed this time yesterday."

"Didn't I tell you?" Draco shook his head. "Moony's back."

………

By the next day, Hermione was starting to feel much better again. She had had a good night's sleep and she had managed to eat a good healthy portion of breakfast in the Great Hall before she had to go off down to the dungeons for the Slytherin and Gryffindor second year potions lesson. She wasn't exactly looking forward to teaching the Slytherins of the three year groups that she had been given, but at least she could assert authority over them and be unfair if she had to be.

"Please sit down quietly and get your things out while I do the roll, thanks," said Hermione after all the students had entered the classroom. "Say 'yes' when I call out your names."

"What are you doing here?" questioned one of the Slytherin boys in distaste.

"Watch your tone," Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly at the boy but she didn't reply to his question until she had finished taking the roll. "I am now teaching all first to third year potion classes until Professor Snape is well enough to come back to work. So, until then, I will be your substitute professor and I have been given permission to punish you as any other teacher would," she gazed around the class briefly. "Right, today you are going to be making a Swelling Solution. The ingredient list and instructions are on the board, the ingredients are in the supply cupboard, and you have forty minutes to make this. And please, be careful, I don't want to have to use the Deflating Draft."

_Hm, piece of cake,_ thought Hermione as she watched the students obediently get to work, although she was getting some dirty looks from the Slytherins. "There is no point in glaring at me, you'll have to get used to me whether you want to or not," she noticed a small Gryffindor girl with her hand in the air. "Yes?"

"I-I heard rumours," started the little girl, she was rather small for her age. "Are you really Snape's daughter?"

_"Professor_ Snape," corrected Hermione, she noticed she had the whole class's attention again, especially the Slytherin students'. "And yes, Professor Snape is my father."

"Why are you _Granger_ then?" questioned another Slytherin, a sneer on his face.

"That is not really any business of yours, now is it? …Right, all of you, get back to work, you have to have this finished before the end of the lesson."

……

At lunchtime that very same day, Hermione headed to the infirmary so that she could see how both of her parents were doing. Upon entering she saw the Severus's cubicle was still closed off so there did not seem to be any change with him; Remus's cubicle was also closed off.

"You can go in, Granger, he is awake."

Hermione nodded at Madame Pomfrey's words and went into Remus's cubicle, she saw her dad lying in the bed seemingly sound asleep; but when her foot hit a chair and caused it to scrape across the sound his eyes opened and he smiled slightly.

"Hey, you."

Hermione smiled slightly and sat down on the edge of the bed, "How are you feeling?"

Remus sat up a little and leaned back against his pillows, "Better than I was a few days ago, I'll tell you."

Hermione pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, "What happened, dad? Where did you go?" she was used to seeing him not looking his best, especially after a full moon but at the moment he was looking far weaker than usual.

Remus raised his eyebrows slightly; "I'm surprised, being as nosy as you are, that you haven't figured it out."

Hermione had the decent to look a little sheepish, "Well, ok, I know why you had to go, and that you were in the general vicinity of Europe, but I don't know what happened. I mean, how did you get to be in this state?"

"Death Eaters," was Remus's short and rather to the point reply; the tone of voice that he was one that suggested that he did not particularly wish to talk about his ordeal at the moment.

"Oh…" Hermione looked down at the bedclothes for a few moments before looking back up, she opened her mouth to form another prying question but the very wary look on the werewolf's face made her decide otherwise. "Um…have you seen dad yet?" she asked instead in a small voice.

Remus sighed and shook his head, "No, I am not allowed to leave this bed until I have Madame Pomfrey's consent… Speaking of Severus, I was told that I should ask you for more information on his condition, as apparently, you are far more in the loop than everyone else."

"What do you know already?"

"That his health has been deteriorating since I left in the summer, and that he collapsed a few days ago."

Hermione ran her fingers through her hair before she started to speak, "I only know the little bit that Lucius told me, _he_ is the one that should be questioned," she then launched into everything that Lucius had told her five days ago about the curse and his suspicions, as well as the antidote. Though she did leave out the part where she stole Severus's wand and forced him to drink it. She also let Remus know about Severus's even nastier behaviour, and his being mean to Maria, even.

When Hermione had finished there was a frown on Remus's face; he rubbed his forehead as he spoke, "I must say, I was wondering about the curses used on him… You say Lucius knows more?"

Hermione gave a shrug, "I'm not sure, but I think he knows more than he told me…he was really anxious that day as well. And when I flooed him the day after to tell him dad had taken the antidote, he looked quite worried and said it wouldn't be safe to floo him anymore."

"I would imagine Voldemort is just having a bit of fun with him… Where's Maria?"

Hermione gazed blankly at him for a moment, "Um…I don't actually know…"

"The responsible big sister, I see," Remus smirked and held out an arm. "Come here."

Hermione shifted up the bed and sat next to Remus so that he could give her a proper hug, something that she accepted gratefully; it was really all she had wanted from Severus since Remus had left but the Potions master had never been the most affectionate parent. That and the two of them had spent many hours fighting since Remus's departure.

Remus rubbed Hermione's back and pressed a kiss to her head before speaking quietly again, "And what does one give an eighteen year old girl for her birthday?"

Hermione smiled against Remus's shoulder, not that she cared, but she was surprised that he knew what date it was, "My parents," she lifted her head and gazed at the curious werewolf, the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "I just want you both to be alive and well… I mean, I was ready and willing to accept that I would never see you again, but this has far surpassed my thoughts for the last week or so," she gave a sniff. "And I thought, after dad collapsed, that I was going to have to raise my own sister…"

Remus pulled his eldest daughter back into his arms and hugged her tightly, "Believe me, I have no intention of leaving you and Maria alone, for a long time…and I would like to see her, by the way."

Hermione lifted her head again, "I'll track her down after class, I'm free last lesson anyway."

…

After her last lesson of the day, Transfiguration, Hermione held back after class to see if her Head of House had any idea where her little sister was.

"Professor?"

"Yes, Granger?"

"I don't suppose you know where my sister is, do you?"

McGonagall sat down behind her desk a her next class of fourth years started to file in quietly, "She is with the Headmaster, as far as I know. The password is the same as usual."

"Ok, thanks," with that said, Hermione left the Transfiguration classroom and headed for Dumbledore's office.

"Hermione!"

Hermione stopped and turned around to see a red headed girl running towards her, "Hey, Gin."

After Ginny had slowed to a half she hugged Hermione vigorously, "Are you all right? I haven't seen much of you."

Hermione smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I'm ok. Both of my parents are alive and in the Infirmary, its just one is still unconscious."

"Moony's back?"

"Yeah," Hermione started walking again, with Ginny at her side. "He was dragged in half-dead last night, but he's all right, I think."

"Where are we going?"

"To get my sister from Dumbledore."

Ginny nodded, she sidled closer to Hermione and nudged her friend in the side, a sly look on her face, "How are you and Mr. Malfoy going?"

Hermione grinned, as they rounded a corner and started climbing a flight of stairs, "We are going absolutely fine, though he is really hankering to get me into bed now."

"Oh put out for him, 'Mione, I know you want to."

Hermione laughed, "Yeah, true, but it's fun to tease him."

Ginny smiled, "So, when are you going to tell Harry and Ron?"

"Ha! Not any time soon, I don't think…no matter what they know about Dray, they still hate his guts, same with my dad."

"Well, yeah, but you never know…"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Gin, look how Ron reacted when I went to the Yule Ball with Viktor, admittedly Harry would probably be far more understanding, but its Ron's temper I'm worried about," she saw the red head open her mouth to argue. "And after the way Ron reacted after he found out about my parents, can you honestly blame me?"

Ginny sighed, "I guess not."

"Don't you have a class to be in?"

Ginny gave a grin, "Only Divination, but we all know what a load of crap that is."

"I still don't understand why you've decided to take it this year, you could have dropped it and had more free lessons."

"I know, I was just interested in what N.E.W.T Divination would be like."

………

By the afternoon of the next day Madame Pomfrey had given into Remus's begging and let the injured werewolf out of his bed so that he could sit with Severus. As Remus sank back into the transfigured armchair beside Severus's bed, he could not help but marvel at how vulnerable the ex-Death Eater looked right now – he and many other people had never seen Severus in this kind of state before. He leaned forward and brushed a hand through some of that black hair, Severus was so pale and almost painfully thin now, and it was heart breaking to see him like this.

A slight twitch of a hand brought Remus to full alertness; he pulled the chair closer and took a hold of the hand that had moved, he gave it a squeeze and within seconds he felt a squeeze in return.

"Ngh…"

Remus watched, smiling slightly, as his dark haired love started to stir from his previous comatose state, "Sev?" he watched as eyelids fluttered open to reveal slightly confused and glazed black eyes. "Hey."

"…Remus…"

"Its me," confirmed Remus; he rested a hand on the waking man's stomach and watched as those dark eyes slowly focussed on him, he could see the questioning in them. "You are awake, I assure you."

Severus groaned quietly and squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again, "What happened…"

Remus leaned forward on the bed; "You collapsed during your seventh year class about five days ago."

"…I've been out that long?"

"Yeah, you have."

Severus attempted to sit up a little bit, but it was too much of an effort for him; he felt so weak at the moment and it was not a feeling that he liked, "When did you come back?"

"Night before last," replied Remus; he was gently stroking the back of one of Severus's hands now. "This is the first time Poppy's let me out of my bed, as well…" he trailed off when he saw the look of alarm on the thin Potions master's face. "Don't give me that look, you had to know I wouldn't come back from that mission unscathed. Anyway, what happened to me doesn't matter, I want to know what happened to you."

Severus used his free hand to rub his eyes and then his forehead before managing a little shrug, "I…I don't really know what happened…all I remember is feeling really ill…"

"Ah, Severus, you're awake," said Poppy coming around the cubicle curtain; she handed a goblet to Remus before pulling out her wand. "Drink that straight down," she then turned her attentions to the Potions master. "Now, you. I don't suppose you know what's wrong with you, do you? I could do a lot more if I knew."

"I honestly don't know."

Remus had drained his goblet, a look of disgust on his face as he spoke, "Hermione said Lucius Malfoy knows more about what happened."

Poppy humphed in disapproval and then she spent the next half an hour checking Severus over, poking and prodding him, practically force-feeding him potions, and complaining that it was hard to see his pupils because his eyes were so dark.

……

After dinner that evening, Remus was still sitting with Severus who was sitting up properly now; though he was annoyed that Poppy nor Dumbledore would allow him to leave the Infirmary until one or the other of them had spoken with Lucius Malfoy.

Severus rested his head back against his pillows and closed his eyes, "Are you going to tell me about your mission or do I have to break down your Occlumency walls?"

Remus raised his eyebrows slightly, "No need for that," he sank back into the plush chair and started to speak. "…Before I left England, I went underground with the British werewolves, and had a little meeting with old Fenrir Greyback-" he saw a look of alarm pass over Severus's face. "Needless to say, he roughed me up a little before I left the country, I'm sure he would have bitten me if he hadn't already done so. I went to France first, had no real luck there in the Paris underground-"

"I am going to take a wild guess here and say that you did not have any luck at all, yes?" interrupted Severus; he was a bit more with it now that he was properly awake, fed and full of potions.

Remus shook his head, "I had a little bit of luck in Italy, but eh, the handful that were willing to side with the Order were killed before I could talk with them again and my life was threatened, so I left. Of course, at that point, I had no idea I was being tracked by a group of Death Eaters," he sighed and had a drink of water, his mouth felt so dry. "They, of course, are the reason I'm in here – they wanted information that I couldn't give them. I highly doubt they were in Italy on Voldemort's orders as well."

"Why?"

Remus frowned a little, "I never heard them mention him, except for when one expressed his concern about their 'Master' finding out what they were doing," he felt one of Severus's hands brush through his hair. "I'll tell you in more detail when I report to the Order… I'll tell you this though, I do wish I had listened to you and stayed home rather than go on that mission."

"I told you so."

Remus rolled his eyes, "Yes, I know, go ahead and gloat-"

"You're awake!"

"Astute observation, Hermione," replied Severus; he had adopted a scowl now, directed straight at the eighteen year old standing at the foot of his bed.

Hermione cowered back a little at the look she was getting; "I take it you haven't forgotten?"

Remus was glanced between the two of them with a frown on his face, "Not forgotten what?"

"Oh, you didn't tell him, I see?"

Hermione folded her arms and huffed before looking to Remus, "He's just upset with me because I stole his wand and forced that antidote, the one I told you about, down his throat," with that said, she shrugged and gave Severus a hug. As she opened her mouth to speak again there was a loud commotion entering the infirmary.

"What the- Oh hell, what happened to you Aiden?"

"I was just practising for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Madame Pomfrey, and he got in the way."

A nasty look and an evil grin passed over Hermione's face upon hearing the voice of her cousin, Trinny, "Oh I've been waiting for this moment…" she headed out of Severus's cubicle leaving her parents with their eyebrows raised.

"Hold still, boy! I can't very well fix it if you don't sit still," said Madame Pomfrey impatiently. "You, girl, I do not believe for a second that he 'got in the way'."

"Is there anything I can do, Madame Pomfrey?" asked Hermione in a sugary-sweet voice.

"Yes, deal with Miss Jacobs," replied the impatient matron. "Mind you, I know Dumbledore has given you teaching responsibilities now, but that does not mean that you can abuse your power."

"I wouldn't dare," replied Hermione in feigned innocence; vaguely wondering if either of her parents knew about her position as a temporary member of staff or a permanent member of the Order, because she certainly hadn't said anything. "Trinny, corridor. _Now!"_

Severus blinked after the Infirmary door was slammed shut, he turned his eyes to Remus, "Did Poppy just say what I think she just said?"

Remus raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly, "I'm not sure I want to know what was running through Dumbledore's mind when did that…"

"Teaching, what?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

…

"You have no power over me-"

_"Yes, I do!"_ snapped Hermione at her cousin. "Not only am I the Head Girl, but I am now also a temporary professor and have all the rights of one. Do _not_ push me, Trinny, because I have every right to get you suspended, _or_ _expelled!_ Now, what in the _hell_ did you think you were doing? What did he ever do to _you?"_

Trinny merely gave a shrug, "He got in my way."

_"That_ is your only excuse for breaking the boy's nose?" Hermione glared at the girl in front of her, one of the cousins she so hated being around – one of the cousins that had made her summer hell. "What is wrong with you, _you stupid girl!"_

Trinny mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Trinny drew herself up to her full height, which still made her a couple of inches shorter than Hermione, _"I said,_ you're an ugly whore-" she squeaked in shock when she was back handed hard across the face.

Hermione seemed to crackle with energy as she glared menacingly at her cousin; but when she spoke, her voice was in forced calmness, "For the next two weeks you are going to be in detention, _every_ night. If you fail to turn up I will make your life a living hell. Are we clear?"

Trinny sniffled, a hand on her cheek where she was struck, "Crystal."

_"Good,"_ Hermione headed back for the Infirmary door, "I'll catch up with you tomorrow about your detention. Now go back to your common room and do not even _think_ about leaving it."

…

"Remus, I said not to over exert yourself, so _sit back down."_

Remus raised his eyebrows at the irate Madame Pomfrey; "I was just seeing what was going on."

Madame Pomfrey huffed, "Right, you are good to go, Aiden. Try not to rile that girl up again."

"I didn't do anything in the first place," mumbled Aiden as he got off the bed. As he got to the Infirmary door, his hand reaching for the handle – the door slammed open and he was knocked off his feet.

Hermione gasped from the doorway upon seeing what she had just done, "Oh my god, I killed him!"

Madame Pomfrey nearly screamed in irritation before rushing over to the newly unconscious teenaged boy on the floor of her Infirmary.

"Is there anything I can do, Poppy?" asked Remus; he gazed curiously down at the unconscious boy at his feet. _…He looks an awful lot like Romulus…_

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

********

******A/N:** How was that? Different to what it should've been but, meh…

********

******Next Chapter:** Just how much alike are Romulus and Aiden. Severus is back on his feet – how will he feel about how his classes have been taken care of? Sirius, James, and Lucius make appearances. Draco finally gets what he wants from his girlfriend.


	23. Draco's Mission

Late One Night 

**Disclaimer:** By now, you should know what I do and do not own.

**Thank yous:** _MoonyPadfootJr, orlin, Goddess of Gorgeousness, yoblossom, Mistress Vamp, badboyblondEsgurl, im no muggle, S.c.ou.s.er.4.li.f.e, ryanzraindrop, Azkaban-convict, Marblez, guttergirl11, EsScaper, Evil Elvin Pirates, heavenlyevil, iamtherealmaverick, wiccan-witch88, fennec-fox-rox, bookluva629, Sarahamanda,_ _Zelda Hime, slychick25877, vytiri, blackthornroses, aymanimermaid, Neous, Emerald princess3, Chocolate Martini, Hazel-Buttafly, Gerard Way is Hott, Mynxy, KatanaKira, Furies._

**Goddess of Gorgeousness:** It does seem OOC for Hermione to slap Trinny, but then she did slap Draco in Book 3, and my Hermione isn't exactly in character anyway. And personally, if I was insulted like she was, I would slap back as well.

**Evil Elvin Pirates:** Haha, Severus rarely gets along with anyone…he will probably be tolerable if Remus is present but he still dislikes James and Sirius a great deal.

**Vytiri:** 'Icarus' is only significant in that one of my friends thought it sounded really funny and she started calling me Icarus. And yes, Vicky is short for Victoria; I also go by Vix, Toria, and Vic/Vik.

And yes, everyone, there will be more of Sirius and James, but as this story mainly takes place at Hogwarts and those two are at the Order Headquarters, there hasn't really been much need for them to be present at Hogwarts yet. But yes, they will appear in this chapter, definitely.

**If I missed anyone out, I'm sorry but thank for reviewing!**

I think you may as well just pretty much ignore the summary from last chapter.

**Remember, Severus is a pureblood in this story; so anything in the sixth book about his background does not bare any relation to this story.**

_**Good God, have I really not updated since LAST July? I am SO sorry! I honestly am! Please forgive me and accept this very feeble 23rd chapter.**_

**WARNING:** Spoilers for _Half-Blood Prince._ If you haven't read book six, just **stop reading now.**

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

**Chapter 23:** _Draco's Mission_

It was getting late one evening, and Hermione was doing some homework in the library, or at least, she was trying to. She had a lot on her mind at the moment, mostly family things, but also the big change in the relationship she had with Draco. The changed that occurred two days ago, on the night of her eighteenth birthday; she had not really thought about it yesterday because she had been so busy with her classes as well as Severus's potions classes, but now she had some peace and quiet she was thinking it over.

For one thing, it had been a wonderful night; Draco had told the House-elves that he and Hermione were going to be having dinner in their little part of the castle instead of in the Great hall. With dinner, there had been a very expensive bottle of wine (Hermione felt sure that the blond had snuck that into his trunk before leaving for school on September 1st, it was just the kind of thing Lucius would have in his wine cellar). After their lovely dinner, things had progressed, though to Hermione shock Draco had not tried to push her into anything like he had done a couple of times prior to that evening; in fact, it was _she_ that came onto him first.

There was only one thing that wasn't completely perfect though, the next day Draco had been giving her funny looks; in fact he had been doing that today as well. Why? Because it was pretty damn clear to him that she had been no virgin when they went to bed, despite the way she came off to everyone about things like that.

In fact, Draco hadn't even mentioned it to her, despite the fact that she had pretty much lied to him.

While she had been thinking she had started staring off into space, a slightly glazed look to her eyes, and she was completely oblivious to the man standing behind her looking over her shoulder at the doodles on her parchment.

"Aw, my darling niece is in love."

Hermione literally jumped a foot in there at the sound of the voice coming from so close to her; she then hurriedly covered up the parchment she had been doodling on and glared at her uncle, "Shut up."

Romulus laughed quietly and sat down next to Hermione, "And how is young Master Malfoy?"

Hermione pulled her Transfiguration textbook to her so that she could look for the right page, "That is none of your business," she started jotting down notes from the textbook seemingly ignoring her uncle. But she did have something on her mind to ask him, and it didn't seem like he was going to leave her alone anytime soon. "You know that new boy, Aiden?"

Romulus nodded, "Yes, what about him?'

Hermione fiddled with her quill in thought, "Does he… Does he look at all familiar to you?" she glanced at her uncle out the corners of her eyes.

"Familiar, how?" questioned Romulus, his eyebrows rising slightly.

"Well, I've just been noticing little things about him," continued Hermione carefully, so as not to give away exactly what she thought. "He holds quite a likeness to someone, his mannerisms and his appearance in particular… Don't you think?"

Romulus gazed at the brunette blankly; he blinked, "Who, exactly? I can't know if he is similar to someone if I don't know who the _someone_ is."

Hermione smirked slightly and shook her head, "You know what, never mind. I'm probably just imagining it."

Romulus frowned, "You're behaving very strangely, young lady, perhaps you should see a professional."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I am behaving no differently than I usually do, thank you."

"You are."

"I am not."

"Be like that then," said Romulus before getting to his feet. "But you are acting more strange than usual."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at her uncle's retreating back before shaking her head and going back to her work. Was she really behaving differently? Or was Romulus just trying to wind her up like usual?

………

Three days later, both Severus and Remus were allowed out of the Infirmary under strict orders from Madame Pomfrey to take it easy. Remus was planning on taking Maria back to Twelve Grimmauld Place, it was very safe there at least and he had barely seen his youngest child since the summer. Severus, though he really should take a break and fully recuperate, was determined to go back to teaching if it meant staying away from the Order Headquarters and its two permanent occupants.

Classes had just finished so the two wizards had to fight their way through students leaving the dungeon, and if Severus saw so much as an undone top button he would snap at the student and deduct points; Remus rolling his eyes as they walked. When they finally got to the Potions classroom they found it completely empty, except for the brunette sitting behind the teacher's desk, with her feet on it; she was entirely absorbed in her own work to notice them.

"Get your _feet_ off my desk," snapped Severus almost immediately.

Hermione removed her feet from the desk, and without even bothering to look up she sighed and spoke, "Feeling better then, are we?" in reply she got quiet growl of frustration from Severus. "I've already apologised and begged for forgiveness; I don't know what else it is you want from me."

"Just ignore him," said Remus; he placed a hand between Severus's shoulder blades and pushed him forward to keep him going towards his quarters.

"I do try," Hermione lifted her eyes finally to look at her parents. "Dumbledore left a note here telling me to tell you two that he wishes to speak with you after dinner tonight in his office. And I will be using your classroom to take detention tomorrow night," she continued looking to Severus. "Unless of course you want to do the honours?"

"No, thank you."

"You're enjoying this position of power, aren't you?" asked Remus in amusement.

"Yes. Yes, I am," Hermione smiled and started packing up her things; she was going to go and search out Draco as she had not seen him at lunchtime. In fact, she had not seen him around all day…

……

It was now 8pm and Dumbledore had just called for silence in his office; the room was occupied by himself, Remus, Severus, Sirius, James, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minerva McGonagall and Bill Weasley. Apparently they were the only Order members invited to this little gathering.

"I have not called a full Order meeting this evening, as I think the fewer people who know about this the better," started Dumbledore, observing the younger wizards and witch before him. "And I trust those of you here now to keep your cool about what I have to say," he got many curious looks in return. "Earlier today there was a gathering with Lord Voldemort. Lucius reported to me immediately afterwards to tell me of what was said, and he told me that a rather dangerous and important task was handed out to Voldemort's youngest Death Eater, Draco Malfoy. Voldemort has requested that Draco, by his own means, kills me before the year is out."

Minerva choked on her cup of tea, "Albus, you can't be serious."

"I am afraid I am, Minerva," replied Dumbledore solemnly. "I had a feeling this would happen at some point, ever since Voldemort's return-"

"But if you know about it, you can make sure it doesn't happen, can't you?" questioned James; this was truly panicking, especially as Dumbledore did not seem the least bit bothered by this turn of events.

Severus sighed and shook his head and replied before Dumbledore could, "If that is what the Dark Lord has requested of him then Draco _has_ to do the deed, or his family and anyone else he cares about will likely be killed," he glanced at Remus and knew that the werewolf had deduced much the same as himself; Hermione was once again in danger because of her connections.

Tonks frowned, "And if he tries and does not succeed?"

"As Severus said, he and his family will be killed," replied Albus gravely. "I have spoken several times with Draco since his induction into Voldemort's circle, and I know exactly where he stands, and though he is a very determined boy, I do not think for a minute that he will be able to follow through with it."

Sirius was chewing his bottom lip before he spoke, "But what if he _does_ go through with it?"

"That is a chance I am willing to take."

Remus had his eyes downcast as he spoke quietly, "You're going to sacrifice yourself, anyway, aren't you?"

"Perhaps," replied Dumbledore honestly. "Now the full reason I have asked for you all to come here… If Draco does fail in his mission, _someone_ will have to be there to do the deed in his place."

The silence that rang throughout the office after this statement was, to put it simply, deafening; you could hear a pin drop. After what seemed like several minutes, and had in fact only been about two, James spoke up again.

"You want one of…_us_…to do it?"

"Yes."

Tonks just about fell out of her chair at the mere thought of what Dumbledore was suggesting, "Why doesn't Draco's father do the deed if his son fails? Why should any of us? We don't hate you, we _couldn't."_

Dumbledore gave a slight smile, "However true that may be, I believe that the need to survive in _yourselves _would over ride any doubts you would have if Draco does not succeed."

In response to that Dumbledore got many cries of dissent from the people surrounding him.

"I refuse!"

"Think about what you're asking of us, _please,_ Albus!"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing…"

"This is ridiculous!"

The only one who had remained silent was Severus, whose eyes had taken on a rather distant look as though he was thinking very deeply about what he was hearing.

A few more minutes of the others questioning his every motive, Dumbledore shushed them, and he looked to Severus, "What are your thoughts on this, Severus?" his blue eyes practically boring into Severus's head.

Severus slowly raised his head and his eyes locked on Dumbledore's, he opened his mouth to speak, but hastily shut it again; a vast array emotions crossing his face as he stared at the old man. Everyone else in the office watched this odd form of communication, some putting two and two together, some not.

Eventually though, after about two minutes of this, Severus got to his feet and stormed out of the office, slamming the door violently behind him.

…

After she had left Severus's classroom, Hermione had gone to her dormitory after not being able to find Draco; and in wait she continued with some of her homework, and eventually fell asleep. However she awoke now to the sound of loud voices drifting up from the Common Room; two male voices, one being Draco, the other sounded suspiciously like Lucius.

"I can't! I just… I can't do this!"

"Draco, I know this is difficult-"

"_Do you?_ Do you really?"

"_Yes!_ I have had to do _several_ terrible things in the past in order to keep you and your mother safe from _him._ Draco, it is _not_ easy, I _know_ it is not easy, but refusing to do the Dark Lord's bidding will result in your _death."_

By now, Hermione was standing on the bottom step of the stairwell, in full view of both men if they so chose to acknowledge her presence; her mouth parted in shock and her eyes like saucers.

"But Dumbledore?" Draco was practically tearing his hair out as he paced back and forth in front of his father; who had his back to the stairwell and Hermione. "He wants me to kill…Dumbledore? The most… The most powerful wizard in the world? At the rate I'm going I'm barely going to pass my NEWTs let alone _kill someone!"_

Lucius grabbed Draco by the shoulders to stop his increasingly more hysterical son from pacing, "Draco, listen to me-_look at me,"_ Draco did as he was told, though he seemed to be on the verge of collapsing, or crying. "I'm not going to say that everything will be fine, because it _won't_ be. But you cannot back out now, Draco, needs must, you _have_ to go through with this whether you succeed or not. Dumbledore knows and he is in the process of doing something about it," he could feel Draco trembling under his hands. "You need to be strong, Draco. We _all_ need to be. But if you allow this to get to you too much you will _not_ survive, and I do not plan on having to bury my son before his time," with that, he pulled his son to him and hugged him tightly. It wasn't something he had done often through Draco's life, so perhaps now he should make up for it.

Hermione's eyes were brimming with tears as she watched father and son hug; she had never seen Draco so scared before and she had definitely never seen Lucius being so compassionate before particularly toward his own son. On top of that, she was very scared about what she had heard.

……

"Well that went well," said Sirius flatly, as he, James and Remus headed away from Dumbledore's office more than an hour later. "Not entirely unexpected though, I have to admit. But really, asking one of us to do it-"

"_Sirius!"_

"What?"

"_Shut up," _snapped Remus; he had barely listened to the rest of the meeting after Severus had stormed out; he felt it was painfully obvious what Dumbledore had been doing. "Don't discuss it in public."

"Sorry."

"He should tell everyone else though," said James, he was more wondering out loud than directing his comments at anyone. "Something could go wrong, we should _all_ know, not just a select few."

Sirius huffed, "Oh that's fair, tell me to shut up and let him talk."

Remus rolled his eyes, "When have you ever been subtle about something, Sirius?"

James snorted, "Ha!"

Lucius had had to leave about twenty minutes ago, and Draco had spent the time since then lying on the couch; his head on his girlfriend's lap. Hermione was running her fingers comfortingly through his hair; she had not spoken a word since witnessing the father-son moment an hour ago, all she had done was silently accept what she was hearing and give some amount of comfort to the blond teenager.

"Why did you leave?" questioned Remus when he had tracked Severus down after bidding farewell to Sirius and James for the evening. "What did he show you?"

"Nothing."

Remus sighed; of course, Severus wasn't going to make this easy, he never did, "There is no point in trying to pull the wool over my eyes, Severus. I _know_ he showed you something, and it is quite clear that you didn't like what you saw. Please, just tell me."

"_No."_

Remus folded his arms and frowned, as he watched Severus gulp down what was probably his third or fourth glass of Firewhiskey since he had stormed out of Dumbledore's office, "Please don't make this any harder than it has to be, just _tell me._ I already have a pretty good guess as it is-"

Severus fixed Remus with one of his nastiest glares, "Well then, I guess you do not need me to tell you," his speech was slightly slurred. "Now leave me alone."

"You know you're not going to get rid of me that easily."

"Can't you just _leave it?"_

"No! This is important! You shouldn't be getting drunk over it, either-"

"He wants me to do it!" shouted Severus; successfully stopping anymore argument that was about to come out of Remus's mouth. "He wants _me_ to _kill him!"_

_

* * *

_**Author's Note:** I have well and truly, royally screwed this story up... I really shouldn't have taken so long to update (though I really do have good excuses)... I'm sorry. This was a really bad chapter and it went in a direction I had never really considered for this story.

Ok, enough of my excuses. Please review, and if you have questions go ahead and ask them, and I will PM you with the reply.


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